Dissertation in partial compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, submitted to the Faculty of Health at the Durban University of Technology, 2009. / Although kayaking is an Olympic sport and said to be one of the top ten
growth sports in America, relatively little literature has been written on it by
sports scientists and there is a paucity of available literature. Previous
research has described the effects of spinal manipulation on muscles at
distant sites to the joint being manipulated, and there have been trends which
have shown a positive increase in strength and in muscle activity at these
sites. There has, however, been a lack of literature to show that these positive
trends would influence sporting performance in any way.
30 volunteer kayakers, who train and compete on a regular basis, were
actively recruited and randomly allocated into one of three groups. Group 1
received manipulation on a fixated cervical segment, group 2 on a non-fixated
cervical spine segment, and group 3 received placebo laser to the posterior
cervical area. Subjects were then required to complete two 200m sprint tests
on a kayak ergometer. Measurements were taken pre and post manipulation
and included maximum watts recorded for the duration of the sprint test and
time taken to complete 200m.
Although no statistically significant results were found between the groups,
trends revealed that in group 1, which received spinal manipulation on a
fixated joint, there was an increase in the mean peak watts post manipulation,
as compared to the placebo and non-fixated groups which showed a
decrease in peak watts post manipulation.
Group 1 also demonstrated a mean decrease in time taken to complete the
second 200m sprint test. Group 2 and 3 again showed an increase in time
taken to complete the second sprint test post manipulation.
iv
It is, therefore, concluded that manipulation of a fixated cervical joint in
asymptomatic kayakers results in an increase in performance, although it
must be noted that these were only trends and that there was no statistical
significance in these results. This research has, furthermore, opened the door
to future studies which may test the performance enhancing benefits of
competitive sports such as kayaking. / M
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:dut/oai:localhost:10321/468 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Cuninghame, Neil Mark |
| Contributors | Gomes, Adrian Neil |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 90 p |
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