RESUMO
Background: Kathak being one of the very complex Indian classical dance forms, has a greater emphasis on foot work thus putting substantial amount of stress over foot which leads to weakness of intrinsic foot muscles, flat foot and functional impairments. Hence current study aimed to study the impact of intrinsic foot muscle strengthening on foot posture and functional activity among female kathak dancers with flat feet. Methods: In this Quasi-Experimental Study, 30 females kathak dancers with flat feet between the age group of 18-40 were selected according the inclusion and exclusion criteria from different Kathak dance academies in Pimpri and Pune. All participants were given intrinsic foot muscle strengthening (5 exercises) for 2 times a week for 4 weeks which were progressed after 2 weeks. Pre and post treatment assessments were done for foot deviations and foot functional activity by Foot posture index and foot function index respectively. Results: Paired T test for pre and post treatment analysis was done with statistical. significant at P<0.05 and 95% confidence interval. FFI score was reduced post treatment with mean difference of 1.26 which was statistically insignificant (p>0.05) but clinically significant. There was no statistically as well as clinically significant difference between the pre and post treatment FPI scores of both right and left leg (p>0.05). Conclusions: Intrinsic foot muscle training showed clinically significant improvement in foot function index but did not show any improvement in foot posture.
RESUMO
Background: Research on the body structure of roller skaters has identified that anthropometric attributes are desirable in this sport for a better performance. Leg length has a definite decisive advantage in sport. Explosive leg power is very essential for roller skating as it requires speed, agility and quickness which can be associated with lower limb muscle girth. Hence, it is important to examine the contribution of limb length, calf and thigh muscle circumference, to agility performance. Methods: 30 healthy amateur roller skaters within age group of 6 to 14 years were assessed for anthropometric measurements – lower limb length, thigh circumference, calf circumference measurement. Participants performed a standardized warm-up of moderate-intensity jogging (5-10 min), static and dynamic stretching (5 min) and brief bouts of high-intensity running, including changes in direction on the ground. They performed agility tests in order of Edgren side step test, t-test and Illinois agility test based on test direction, progressing from uniplanar movements to biplanar and concluding with multidirectional movements. Each test was performed twice with 1-minute rest period between each trial, and a 2 min rest period between each test. Results: Pearson’s correlation showed that lower limb length have a moderately positive correlation with agility (r=0.5-0.7) whereas calf and thigh muscle circumference have a strong positive correlation with agility (r=0.7-0.8) stating that anthropometric measurements have a statistically significant correlation with agility performance with p<0.05. Conclusions: Anthropometric measurements such as lower limb length, thigh and calf circumferences have a moderate to strong positive correlation with agility performances of healthy amateur roller skaters within the age group of 6-14 years..