Ergonomics Intervention Among Football Players

Abstract

We summarize recent studies to shed some light on the benefit of ergonomic approaches in sports and more specifically in football. In football, the physical demands can lead to muscular pain. Pressure pain mapping can be used as a surrogate for evaluation of the sensory changes in sports. Thus, pressure pain threshold (PPTs) was assessed in a set of studies 1) to compare topographical pressure pain sensitivity maps of the lower extremity in elite footballers playing on artificial turf or natural grass; 2) to investigate specialized recovery training on lower extremities pressure pain sensitivity; 3) to measure the effect of the usage of shock-absorbing insoles on foot PPTs during training among young soccer players on artificial turf. In total of 102 football players participated in these studies. Pressure pain thresholds were measured bilaterally over 23 locations of the lower extremity, including the rectus femoris, tensor fasciae latae, vastus lateralis/medialis; external and internal hamstrings; tibialis anterior; peroneous; external and internal gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles, in a blinded design. Further, PPTs measured at the 1-3-5 metatarsal bones; abductor digiti minimi muscle; flexor digitorum brevis muscle; abductor hallucis muscle, and calcaneus bone. Pain intensity and comfort were assessed using numeric rating scales. Our studies showed that football players playing on natural grass exhibited lower PPTs as compared to those players playing on artificial turf, specialized recovery training results in a decrease of muscles sensitivity 48 hours after game and addition of shock-absorbing insoles resulted in a significantly increased PPTs and reduced pain intensity as compared with playing without insoles.