Resistance properties of elastic tubing commonly used in rehabilitation and sports training and the effects of previous cyclic loading-unloading.
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Date
2017
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Abstract
Elastic tubes have been widely used as an external variable resistance in protocols of rehabilitation
and sports training. The aim of this study was to evaluate the resistance and
effect of fatigue (stiffness reduction) after repeated stretching (cycling) of latex elastic
tubing (LET) and natural rubber elastic tubing (NRET). The samples were submitted to
axial traction tests at 0, 1000, and 3000 loading-unloading cycles. Each of the respective
cycling values consisted of six samples. The loading-unloading cycle reached a 100%
maximum strain from the initial length and 1800 mm/min displacement rate; after each
test, the samples were loaded monotonically (500 mm/min) to 300% of strain and the
force response recorded. The results obtained in this study are similar to the resistance
values obtained at 0 cycles reported by the NRET manufacturer (84N vs. 80N), but they do
not confirm the report that the “silver” tubing retains the ability to offer resistance after
cycling of the elastic tubing for strains of 100% (p = .001), 200% (p = .021), and 250% (p =
.002). The LET and NRET showed loss capacity for offering similar resistance (9.5 – 15.5%
vs. 9.9 – 15.2%, respectively).
Description
Keywords
Biomechanics, Sports training, Elastic resistance, Natural rubber elastic tubing
Citation
PAULA, L. V. de et al. Resistance properties of elastic tubing commonly used in rehabilitation and sports training and the effects of previous cyclic loading-unloading. Revista Portuguesa de Ciências do Desporto, v. 17, p. 13-27, 2017. Disponível em: <http://www.fade.up.pt/rpcd/_arquivo/artigos_soltos/2017-S4A/01.pdf>. Acesso em: 05 abr. 2018.