Clinical Research Directory

Effectiveness of a Quick Release Dynamic Muscle-strengthening Program on Dynamic Stabilization of the Cervical Spine

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Quick Release dynamic strengthening of the cervical spine extensor muscles' reflex could improve dynamic stabilisation capacities of the cervical spine by reducing muscle activation delay in amateurs rugby players. The main questions it aims to answer are described as follows: The primary outcome measure is the comparison between the intervention and control groups of the variation in activation delay of the cervical spine extensor muscles in milliseconds (ms) between the beginning and the end of the strengthening program. The activation delay in milliseconds corresponds to the time between the onset of impact application on the head and the onset of reactive muscle force production measured by the Cervistab© ergometer. The secondary outcomes are also a comparison between the two groups of the variations from the beginning to the end of the strengthening program for the followings parameters, measured during with the Cervistab© machine: * Reflex Force Production Rate (N/ms): slope of the force/time graph. * Maximum Reactive Force (N): maximum force value produced within 300 ms following impact. * In both intervention groups: measurement of the variation in head displacement (in mm) during quick release strengthening protocol. * In each subgroup, 10 participants will be equipped with Instrumented Mouthguards. Researchers will compare the variation in workload measured by these mouthguards during Cervistab evaluations conducted before and after the training protocol. Researchers will compare the intervention group to a distractor (control) arm to see if our training protocol has an impact on the activation delay.