Context: Anecdotal evidence suggests a relationship between strength imbala
nces and injury incidence.
Objective: To examine the relationship between bilateral strength imbalance
and incidence of injury.
Participants and Design: Thirty national- or international-standard flatwat
er kayakers were classified as noninjured, trunk injured, or upper-limb inj
ured based on the number of days lost from training over the last 6 months.
Bilateral strength imbalance was measured using a kayak ergometer, produci
ng data for peak force and force impulse for each side of each stroke. Bila
teral strength imbalance was then compared between the noninjured, trunk-in
jured, and upper-limb-injured groups by means of 2 one-way ANOVAs. No parti
cipants reported training days lost through lower-limb injury.
Results: A significantly elevated bilateral peak-force strength imbalance w
as observed between the upper-limb-injured and the noninjured groups.
Conclusion: These data support the existence of a relationship between stre
ngth imbalance and incidence of injury.