Use of Mental Imagery to Limit Strength Loss after Immobilization

Abstract

Objective:To assess whether mental imagery of gripping prevents the loss of grip strength associated with forearm immobilization.Design:Pretest–posttest randomized-group design.Setting:Laboratory.Participants:13 female and 5 male university students, age between 17 and 30 years, randomly assigned into 2 groups—1 control and 1 experimental.Interventions:Both groups had their nondominant forearms immobilized for 10 days. The experimental group undertook three 5-min mental-imagery sessions daily, during which they imagined they were squeezing a rubber ball.Main Outcome Measures:Wrist-flexion and -extension and grip strength before and after immobilization.Results:There was no significant change in wrist-flexion or -extension strength in the mental-imagery group. The control group experienced a significant decrease in wrist-flexion and -extension strength during the period of immobilization (P < .05).Conclusions:Despite study limitations, the results suggest that mental imagery might be useful in preventing the strength loss associated with short-term muscle immobilization