Balance training is a well-established method for injury prevention in sports. It’s often incorporated at the beginning of a training session when athletes are fresh and unfatigued. However, this practice has been called into question, as injuries often occur when athletes are fatigued. This raises the question: would balance training be more effective if performed under fatigue conditions, mirroring the state in which injuries often occur?
To explore this, a study was conducted to assess the influence of balance training in a fatigued or an unfatigued state on motor performance. The study involved fifty-two healthy, active volunteers who were randomly allocated to one of three different training groups. The first group, referred to as the BALANCE group, completed six weeks of balance training in an unfatigued state. The other two groups completed the same balance tasks either before (BALANCE-HIIT) or after (HIIT-BALANCE) a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session, thus training in a fatigued or unfatigued state respectively.
The study’s findings were intriguing. Balance training resulted in reduced sway paths in all groups, indicating improved balance. However, the groups that trained in an unfatigued state (BALANCE and BALANCE-HIIT) showed larger adaptations compared to the group that trained in a fatigued state (HIIT-BALANCE). These effects were consistent for both the “unfatigued” and “fatigued” test conditions.
This suggests that balance training under fatigue results in diminished adaptations, even when tested in a fatigued state. Therefore, the data indicate that balance training should be implemented at the start of a training session or in an unfatigued state.
This study’s findings have significant implications for sports training programs. It challenges the idea that training under conditions that mimic the state in which injuries occur (i.e., fatigue) would be more effective. Instead, it suggests that balance training is more effective when athletes are fresh and unfatigued.
This doesn’t mean that fatigue should be ignored in training programs. Fatigue is a significant factor in sports injuries, and understanding how it impacts balance and motor performance is crucial. However, this study suggests that the timing of balance training within a session can significantly impact its effectiveness.
In conclusion, this study provides valuable insights into the optimal timing of balance training within a sports training session. It suggests that balance training should be conducted in an unfatigued state for maximum effectiveness. This finding could help sports trainers and athletes to design more effective training programs and potentially reduce the risk of injuries. However, as with all research, further studies are needed to confirm and expand upon these findings.
To read the full journal article, head to https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2024/02000/balance_training_under_fatigue__a_randomized.11.aspx