Often people may expect that after a certain time, post operatively or post injury, they should be ready to return to whatever activity they were doing prior. While time is an important part of the equation, it is not the only part. It is also important to have objective testing that shows progress towards specific goals and milestones. This can include hitting specific strength measurements or seeing how high you can jump on one leg. By tracking these measures it can help determine when you are ready to return to jumping, jogging, and even fully back to sport. By using these criteria, it helps to reduce your risk of injury and ensure that you feel confident when getting back into the things you love to do.
Return to sport testing can have numerous tests included within it and may change depending on your injury or what stage you are at in your rehab. We will discuss the most common testing we perform at Maven and why we include it.
Movement Analysis:
During a return to sport test we may look at multiple movements to make sure that there are no significant asymmetries between each leg that could be related to your injury. We also incorporate slow motion video that can help us measure angles of various joints to be specific about the asymmetries we see. This movement analysis can also help us hypothesize about what muscles might need extra strengthening that we can ensure we test later on in the session. These movements include walking, running, cutting, double and single leg squats, as well as step downs.
Mobility Assessment:
When returning to sport it is important to assess your range of motion to ensure there are no large deficits or asymmetries remaining. This should be improving throughout your rehabilitation but some can persist if not treated. These can include things like how well your ankles bend, how your knee bends and straightens, how your hips rotate, and even how well your low back bends and straightens. If we notice any large differences side to side, then we can help prescribe specific exercises and stretches to address these areas.
Strength Assessment:
A crucial part of our return to sport testing is strength measurements of various lower extremity muscle groups. We use a tindeq, which is a small machine that helps to give an objective number to quantify the strength of your quadriceps and hamstrings. There are certain thresholds and ratios that we try to match before allowing you to return to jogging, running, or sport to ensure a smooth return. Depending on your injury we may also decide to do various calf testing which can be done either through repeated heel raises or by using our VALD force plates. While it is common for physical therapists to test muscle strength by pushing against you with their hands; it is best practice to use these more objective measures for return to sport testing as the force required is much higher than is reasonable to test with our hands.
Jumping Assessment:
Additionally, we use multiple jumping tasks to look at symmetry between your legs to ensure that you can generate enough power for returning to sport. First, we use our VALD force plates that give precise measurements for the force output of each of your legs along with how quickly this force is being generated. It can also do things like measure how high you can jump when jumping off a single leg. All of these things together help give a more complete picture of your readiness to return to sport. Another common jumping task for return to sport is single leg jumping for distance. There are multiple varieties of this that consist of different amounts of jumps that we can use to determine symmetry between each leg. Jumping is an important part of a return to sport assessment, as it helps more accurately mimic the high demands that will be placed on your legs during sport.
It is important that you go through some version of a return to sport test after suffering an injury or recovering from a surgery. This helps to ensure that you have met some basic criteria that increase your odds of a successful return to sport. At Maven, we use a variety of tests that help give you the confidence that you are ready to get back to doing what you love. If you are thinking about returning to sport, but aren’t sure you’re ready; you can schedule an appointment with one of our physical therapists today who will help you make a more informed decision.
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