EXSC-510: Advanced Exercise Physiology Article Review
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like
eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 Much the
way we train our minds through study of scripture to develop spiritual strength and endurance
against the schemes of the devil, we must be certain our athletes are receiving the best training
for their sport and for injury prevention. I chose this research article because I believe core
strengthening & stability training should be an essential part of athletic training programs to
increase injury prevention, maintain dynamic muscular balance and increase body/spatial
awareness & proprioception. Core is defined as the lumbopelvic hip complex and its related
musculature. Other reasons for this article selection include my experience with injury as a
dancer years ago, my kids are competitive dancers and also, there is not a wealth of exercise
physiology research specific to professional dancers as compared to professional athletes within
soccer, football, baseball, basketball, etc. Dancers, in the case of this study, ballet dancers,
within a professional setting are very much elite athletes who need proper and specific exercise
training programs. Part of this specific training should include exercises that focus on increasing
muscle activation, neuromuscular control and both static & dynamic core stability. (Bliven &
Anderson, 2013)
This study evaluates the implementation of a dance-specific injury prevention program (IPP) that
includes primary core engagement exercises for professional ballet dancers after identifying the
most common injuries that dancers sustain are those of the lower extremity and lower back.
(Vera, et al, 2020) This study is important because there were no published randomized
controlled trials evaluating IPP for dance. The application of this study to exercise physiology as
a whole may be found when comparing other sports producing similar lower extremity & lower
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back injuries like the ones in this study. If an IPP strategy is found to be beneficial to this group
of athletes it is reasonable to consider the same or similar programs could be applicable and
beneficial to athletes within a variety of sports.
As stated, the research documents common and specific injuries within this category of athlete in
