The Effect of TheraBand® Corrective Exercise on Co-contraction of Ankle Joint in Men with Genu Valgum during Walking: A Randomized Clinical Trial Study

Malalignments in the lower limb can affect the biomechanics of human movements such as walking. The ankle joint has a major role in shock absorption, however abnormalities such as genu valgum can disrupt its function. The objective in this study is to investigate the effect of corrective exercise with ThraBand® on the ankle joint co-contraction in patients with genu valgum during walking.

24 male students (20-30 years old) were randomly divided into the two control and experimental groups. Corrective exercises were performed for 8 weeks using TheraBand® for the experimental group. The electrical activity of the selected muscles was recorded by the electromyography (ECG) device (Biometrics Ltd, UK). The statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS software and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) at the significant level of 0.050.

Findings in the experimental group showed that the general co-contraction of ankle joint increased significantly in the heel contact phase during the post-test phase compared to the pre-test phase (P = 0.044; d = 0.12). Other components did not show any significant differences (P > 0.050).

Generally, increased co-contraction of ankle during the heel contact phase indicated greater ankle joint support after the corrective exercise.