INJURY RATES AND PHYSIOLOGICAL-CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH LATERAL MOTIONTRAINING IN FEMALES

The purpose of this invetigation was to evaluate physiological changes and injury rates associated with lateral motion (slideboard) training . Twenty-five females performed slideboard exercise 3 days per week, 1 hour each session, over a 10 week period. Eleven females served as co ntrols. The subjects were pre and post tested via treadmill exercise t o determine VO(2)peak. Body composition was analyzed by a seven-site s kinfold equation. The slideboard subjects (SBS) were evaluated daily f or injury incidence. A factorial repeated measures ANOVA (p < 0.05) re vealed a significant 14% increase in VO(2)peak. No significant modific ations were shown for body composition. The incidence of injury was 80 % for Grade I injuries, 52% for Grade II injuries, 0% for Grade III in juries, and 4% for Grade IV injuries. Thus, the primary injury reports were of a Grade I and Grade II level of severity. The present injurie s were largely associated with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) in the medial leg musculature during the first two weeks of training. Th ese results show that during a 10 wk training program lateral motion e xercise is an effective mode for improving cardiorespiratory fitness. In addition, the risk of incurring an injury requiring medical attenti on appears to be quite low. However, untrained women who perform this activity at a frequency, duration, acid intensity similar to the prese nt study may experience muscle soreness during the initial period of t raining.