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Progressive Loading Exercises and Conditioning Exercises on Calf Strain

Effects of Progressive Loading Exercises and Conditioning Exercises on Pain, Range of Motion and Functions in Calf Strain Among Runners

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT06302153
Acronym
runners
Enrollment
40
Registered
2024-03-08
Start date
2023-06-01
Completion date
2024-02-10
Last updated
2024-03-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Range of Motion, Pain, Sports Injuries, Stretching, Triceps Surae

Brief summary

Calf pain is a common complaint among runners of all ages but is most frequent in masters athletes. The most common calf injury is a tear of the medial gastrocnemius muscle (Tennis Leg) but other structures including the lateral gastrocnemius, plantaris and soleus also may be the cause of muscular pain.There are multiple techniques for the management that involves loading the strained calf musculature through rest, taping techniques, and appropriate soft tissue massage techniques, modalities such as dry needling or western acupuncture can be popular amongst runners and may also be useful. Progressive loading is a principle of resistance training exercise program design that typically relies on increasing load to increase neuromuscular demand to facilitate further adaptations whereas Athletic performance is based on a number of skills that can be developed through a sports conditioning program. This particular program focuses on improving both muscular strength and power using a technique called post-activation potentiation (PAP), also commonly referred to as complex training.

Detailed description

Calf pain is a common complaint among runners of all ages but is most frequent in masters athletes. Calf pain in runners usually results from musculotendinous origins, with the gastrocnemius among the most common of all muscle injuries. The most common calf injury is a tear of the medial gastrocnemius muscle (Tennis Leg) but other structures including the lateral gastrocnemius, plantaris and soleus also may be the cause of muscular pain.There are multiple techniques for the management that involves loading the strained calf musculature through rest, taping techniques, and appropriate soft tissue massage techniques, modalities such as dry needling or western acupuncture can be popular amongst runners and may also be useful. Progressive loading is a principle of resistance training exercise program design that typically relies on increasing load to increase neuromuscular demand to facilitate further adaptations whereas Athletic performance is based on a number of skills that can be developed through a sports conditioning program. This particular program focuses on improving both muscular strength and power using a technique called post-activation potentiation (PAP), also commonly referred to as complex training. A randomized clinical trial will be conducted at Pakistan sports board, Lahore . Non probability convenience sampling technique will be applied on 40 patients who will be allocated through simple random sampling into group A & group B to collect data. Group A will be given progressive loading exercises and group B will be given conditioning exercises along with stretching. The study will be completed within the time duration of six months. Primary Outcome measures of the research will be pain, range of motion, and functions. Data will be analyzed using SPSS software version 25. After assessing normality of data by Shapiro-wilk test, it will be decided either parametric or non-parametric test will be used within a group or between two groups.

Interventions

PROCEDUREProgressive Loading Exercises

At start of study, a formal educational session, lasting about 30 minutes will be given by the physiotherapist dealing with the treatment/interventions. Whole treatment plan will be given for six weeks. Pre and post intervention measurements will be taken.

Sponsors

Riphah International University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Athletes aged 18 years or above * Pain and tenderness at the back of the lower leg * self-reported pain ,spasm at back of thigh presenting during sport or at rest (unilateral or bilateral)

Exclusion criteria

* Radiating pain or pain with neurogenic and systemic origin * History of lower limb fracture and surgery * History of instability at knee or ankle * Knee or ankle ligamentous or meniscal injury

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
pain , range of motion, functions10 monthsthese three variables will be measured during the study

Countries

Pakistan

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026