About The Webinar
Isokinetics is an exercise modality that operates at a pre-determined fixed speed and with an accommodating resistance through the range of motion. This contrasts with the more utilised isotonic exercise, which works at a variable speed against a fixed resistance. With appropriate speed selection by the clinician, together with suitable sets and repetition prescription, muscle and joint specific loading can be created at intensities compatible with the clinical status and therapy need. If required by the therapist, maximum dynamic loading is possible throughout the range of motion,
A common criticism of isokinetic dynamometry is its lack of specificity to athletic performance. Many question how a single joint movement at a constant angular speed can relate to the multi-joint, varied speed, and multi-directional demands of a sporting activity? This question is based on what termed face validity is, which only asks whether a test does what it is supposed to do. Criterion-related validity, the strongest form of validity, correlates isokinetic testing to athletic performance. More than forty studies have demonstrated a correlation between isokinetic testing and relative athletic performance, including on key functional activities such as jumping, sprinting, and kicking. The number of studies showing no correlation are in single figures.
The concept of pre-season and in-season screening is an important consideration of risk assessment in the sporting environment. Baseline data provides an excellent opportunity for assessing individuals in an assumed healthy or well-conditioned state, with the findings assisting in addressing performance deficits, or providing rehabilitation targets should injury occur.
Isokinetic testing can be used in the medical screening process of an incoming, or outgoing, player. Strength or performance imbalances, deficits, and abnormal findings allow for informed decisions to be made within the medical process. Eccentric muscle performance is often informative, although good quality eccentric isokinetic screening requires multiple familiarisation sessions which may not be feasible in all instances.
There are limited published studies correlating isokinetic torque graphs with injury pathologies, making diagnostic references challenging to use with any certainty. Most of the studies involve the knee joint and are discussed in the literature as isolated cases from experienced clinicians. To suggest that a pathology may be demonstrated from an isokinetic torque curve requires an educated understanding of normal and abnormal curve profiles, the influences of clinical and non-clinical variables, and the typical profiles of a pathological curve. Even then a curve profile may not be truly diagnostic, but it will remain informative.
Most isokinetic systems do not exist solely as isokinetic platforms. Functions such as continuous passive motion (CPM), isometrics, and isotonics are commonly available within the same platform, with both concentric and eccentric settings, allowing systems to be used across the full spectrum of a rehabilitation journey.
CPM and isometrics may be introduced following acute injury or surgery, with the most common sites being the shoulder, knee, and ankle joint. Used appropriately, the early mobilisation can provide an analgesic effect, facilitate an increase in early and late ranges of movement (ROM), and help prevent the complications of immobilisation such as peri-articular adhesions, contractures, and circulatory stasis without any detrimental effect on wound healing. As progress is made, the CPM mode can also be used in an assisted passive manner, before progressing to the more advanced active modes.
