NCT07113249

The Effects of Foam Rolling on Ankle Dorsiflexion, Ankle Stability, and Athletic Performance in Rhythmic Gymnasts

The Effects of Foam Rolling During the Warm-Up Phase on Range of Motion, Ankle Stability and Leaping Performance in Young Elite Rhythmic Gymnasts

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 26 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Palermo · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 9 Years – 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Rhythmic Gymnastics is an Olympic discipline featuring individual or team competition. Regardless of the type of competition, athletes undergo rigorous training focused on enhancing their coordination, joint range of motion, and jump height. Each rhythmic gymnast voluntarily underwent testing at their own gym after reading and signing the informed consent document. During the first session, general information was collected on all participants (age, weight, and height), followed by an assessment of athletic performance and joint mobility parameters. For the jump performance parameters, the Counter Movement Jump test (CMJ) was used through an optical detecting system. An inertial sensor was used to measure joint mobility, while a pressure platform was used to measure ankle stability, using a single-leg jump protocol. Subsequently, participants were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group (EG) and a control group (CG). The EG performed three sets, each lasting 60 seconds, with a 30-second break between sets for two times for week for 3 weeks. During each FR session, a complete sequential movement was always performed, starting from the gastrocnemius muscles and ending with the soleus muscle. At the end of the three weeks, all measurements were repeated.

Conditions

• Athletes

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Foam Rolling (FR)	For the FR, participants were asked to place the roller behind their leg. Three sets, each lasting 60 seconds, with a 30-second break between sets, were performed, for a total of 90 rolls per set.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-05-01
• Primary completion: 2025-06-15
• Completion: 2025-06-30
• First posted: 2025-08-08
• Last updated: 2025-08-17

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Italy