The effects of neuromuscular training on upper body strength in young students

Aim: Aim of this study is to measure the influence of a trunk and lower limbs neuromuscular training program on upper limbs strength in young students of secondary school. Methods: One-hundred twenty-four students of secondary school ITG.S Giacomo Quarenghi of Bergamo (16±2 y-o; 62.9±8.4 kg; 174±7 cm; 20.8±3.1 kg/m2) were involved in a 9-wks protocol consisting of 2 session/week of 1 hour of physical education. All subjects were divided in two groups: 79 in the “experimental group” and 68 in a “control group”. The 15 min neuromuscular program consisted in core endurance, plyometrics and strength exercises with use of body weight, instead the control group performed the normal physical education lessons plane. The program provides trunk and lower limbs activity without exercises for upper limbs. Subjects were tested at baseline (BL) and week 9 (W9). Upper body strength is measured with a hand grip dynamometer. A paired T-test and a unpaired T-test were used respectively to assess pre-post differences within groups and between groups. Results were expressed as mean ± SD. Significant differences were found at p<0.05. Results: All participants completed the 9 weeks program with a mean adherence of 90%. No significant differences were found at BL in the two groups. The experimental group at W9 showed significant improvements in hand grip test with dominant hand. The control group did not show any significant difference at W9 compared to BL. Conclusions: The study shows how a neuromuscular training program, designed for trunk and lower limbs, has a significant influence on the isometric upper limbs strength in young students. References 1. Sartorio A. et al. (2002) The impact of gender, body dimension and body composition on handgrip strength in healthy children. J. Endocrinol. Invest. 25:431–435. 2.Massy-Westropp et al.: (2011) Hand Grip Strength: age and gender stratified normative data in a population-based study. BMC Research Notes 4:127. 3.Griffin LY, et al.(2005) Noncontact anterior cruciate ligament Injuries: risk factors and prevention strategies. J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2;8:141-150.