Background: Calf muscle strain injuries (CMSI) show consistent rates of prevalence and re-injury in elite Australian Football players. An epidemiological evaluation is warranted to better understand the clinical presentation and recovery of CMSI.
Purpose: First, to describe the epidemiology of CMSI in elite Australian Football players. Second, to determine if recovery following injury is different according to: (a) injury type (index vs re-injury); (b) muscle injured (soleus vs gastrocnemius); and (c) mechanism of injury (running-related activity vs non running-related activity).
Study Design: Descriptive epidemiological.
Methods: Data retrieved from the Soft Tissue injury Registry of the Australian Football League were analyzed. Sixteen clubs submitted data on CMSI from 2014 to 2017. Data included: player characteristics, training and match history at the time of injury, MRI, and the time to reach recovery milestones.
Results: One hundred and eighty-four CMSI were included (149 index injuries; 35 re-injuries). Soleus injuries were most prevalent (84.6%). Soleus injuries took 25.4 ± 16.2 days to return to play, whereas gastrocnemius injuries took 19.1 ± 14.1 days (P = .097). CMSI sustained during running-related activities took approximately 12 days longer to recover than injuries sustained during non running-related activities (P = .001). Compared to index injuries, re-injuries involved older players (P = .03) and significantly more time was taken to run at >90% of maximum speed, return to full training, and return to play (P ≤ .001). Almost all of the observed re-injuries involved soleus (91.4%).
Conclusion: Soleus injuries are more prevalent than gastrocnemius injuries in elite Australian Football players. Prognosis appears to be influenced by clinical factors, with CMSI sustained during running-related activities and re-injuries needing more time to recover.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sms.13552 | DOI Listing |
Environ Epidemiol
February 2025
Saarland University, Institute of Sports and Preventive Medicine, Campus Geb B8 2, Saarbrücken, Germany.
A cross-sectional analysis was performed to investigate associations between environmental temperatures and injury occurrence in two professional male football (soccer) leagues. Data from seven seasons of the German Bundesliga (2142 matches) and four seasons of the Australian A-League (470 matches) were included. Injuries were collated via media reports for the Bundesliga and via team staff reports in the A-League and comprised injury incidence, mechanisms (contact, noncontact), locations (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnn Biomed Eng
January 2025
Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) Centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Purpose: Head acceleration events (HAEs) are a growing concern in contact sports, prompting two rugby governing bodies to mandate instrumented mouthguards (iMGs). This has resulted in an influx of data imposing financial and time constraints. This study presents two computational methods that leverage a dataset of video-coded match events: cross-correlation synchronisation aligns iMG data to a video recording, by providing playback timestamps for each HAE, enabling analysts to locate them in video footage; and post-synchronisation event matching identifies the coded match event (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInj Prev
January 2025
Carnegie Applied Rugby Research (CARR) centre, Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK.
Background: Head-on-head impacts are a risk factor for concussion, which is a concern for sports. Computer vision frameworks may provide an automated process to identify head-on-head impacts, although this has not been applied or evaluated in rugby.
Methods: This study developed and evaluated a novel computer vision framework to automatically classify head-on-head and non-head-on-head impacts.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev
January 2025
Cochrane Switzerland, c/o Cochrane Germany Foundation, Freiburg, Germany.
Background: Chronic diseases are the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Much of this burden can be prevented by adopting healthy behaviours and reducing chronic disease risk factors. Settings-based approaches to address chronic disease risk factors are recommended globally.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Strength Cond Res
January 2025
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, Australia.
Cowley, N, Nicholson, V, Timmins, R, Munteanu, G, Wood, T, García-Ramos, A, Owen, C, and Weakley, J. The effects of percentage-based, rating of perceived exertion, repetitions in reserve, and velocity-based training on performance and fatigue responses. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2024-This study assessed the effects of percentage-based training (%1RM), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), repetitions in reserve (RIR), and velocity-based training (VBT) on (a) acute kinematic outputs, perceptions of effort, and changes in neuromuscular function during resistance training; and (b) neuromuscular fatigue and perceptions of soreness 24 hours after exercise.
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