Instrument-assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization in CrossFitters

Instrument-assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization and Stretching in CrossFitters

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization and horizontal adduction stretch in CrossFit practitioners' shoulders.

Setting: Acero CrossFit center, city of Toledo (Spain) Design: Randomized, single-blind pilot study, with follow-up period. Participants: Twenty-one subjects of both sexes, being regular CrossFitters and in the age range of 18 to 40 years.

Intervention: The experimental group (n = 11) received 30 seconds of stretching with isometric contraction of 5 seconds and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. The control group (n = 10) received only 40 seconds of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization. Each session lasted 2 to 5 minutes, 2 days a week, over a period of 4 weeks, prior to each workout.

Main Outcome measures: Shoulder internal rotation and horizontal adduction (digital inclinometer), and posterior shoulder stretch perception (Park scale) were evaluated.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects of both sexes
• Being regular CrossFitters (workouts at least two days a week)
• In the age range of 18 to 40 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• Had suffered a shoulder injury in the 3 months prior to the study
• Had undergone shoulder surgery in the previous six months
• Had a non-attendance rate of over 15% of the intervention sessions (2 sessions)
• Had not signed the informed consent document