The influence of an Osteopathic treatment on the performance of a high - performance athlete

Item

Title
The influence of an Osteopathic treatment on the performance of a high - performance athlete
Author(s)
Böhmüller Elke
Abstract
Study Design: Single subject design

Problem definition: Athletes always aim at enhancing their performance. Optimizing their training parameters might come to its limits in foreseeable future. Osteopathic treatments might offer an opportunity to optimise physical performance.

Research question: Is it possible to enhance the performance of high-performance athletes with Osteopathic treatments?

Hypothesis: Heart Rate Variability (HRV) can be increased in high-performance athletes by Osteopathic treatments.

Relevance for patients: Optimising performance is always the aim of high-performance athletes. Osteopathic treatments could be a valuable tool in optimising different body systems and therefore enhance physical performance.

Relevance for Osteopathie: Evidence of a positive influence of Osteopathic treatments on the performance of high-performance athletes can help to establish Osteopathy in the field of top-class sport.

Methodology: For this study a young (23 years of age) male, physically and mentally healthy high-performance tri-athlete was chosen. A pilot study was done over a period of about five months (31.5.06 – 26.10.06) to investigate changes in HRV in the morning before and the day after 7 Osteopathic treatments.
In February 2007 a single subject design study over a period of 10 weeks was started. Four Osteopathic treatments with intervals of at least 2 weeks in between were carried out. HRV short-term recordings, were made by the athlete every morning immediately after waking up. HRV recordings in time and frequency domain were analysed 7 days before and 7 days after the treatment to show the behaviour of measures. Besides HRV measures, the athlete recorded his personal feelings during training on a scale from 1 (very good feeling) to 5 (very bad feeling) every day. Training intensity was recorded on a scale from 1 (regenerative training) to 5 (competition). Duration of daily training was recorded in minutes every day.
To ensure a physiologically comparable period of recording Osteopathic treatment were timely spread in the middle of moderate training sequences.

Results: Pilot study: In time domain SD1 and RMSSD all measures increased the day after
all seven treatments. In frequency domain, measures before and after the treatment showed an irregular behaviour.
Central study: Time domain parameters of HRV increased the day after the first three treatments but decreased the day after the fourth treatment after a 10 day influenca. The distribution of time domain parameters over all four time periods (4x 14 days) showed an irregular behaviour before and after the treatment. Pearson’s correlation for time domain parameters comparing measures before and after the treatment was very week with (r = 0,996).
Measures in frequency domain analysis did not show coherent increases on the following morning after the treatment. Long term measurements (4 x 14 days) showed irregular behaviour before and after the treatment. Pearson’s correlation for frequency domain analysis comparing measures before and after the treatment over the fourteen day periods with r = 1 was not significant.
The mean of personal feeling the seven days after the treatment increased 16,29% compared to the 7 days before the treatments.

Conclusion: The hypothesis that Osteopathic treatments can positively influence the heart rate variability and therefore physical performance of high-performance athletes proved to be true in short term measures.
Contrary to the short period study, in all four 14 day time measures (7 days before and 7 days after every treatment) no correlation could be found in time or frequency domain analyses before and after the treatment.
Even though the measures did not reflect it, an improvement could be noticed in the personal feeling during training the 7 days after the treatment.

Perspectives: To test the premise that an Osteopathic treatment can increase the ability of the body for physical performance on a longer term, other measuring devices might be thought about to be applied.
Date Accepted
2007
Date Submitted
1.10.2007 00:00:00
Type
osteo_thesis
Language
English
Submitted by:
62
Pub-Identifier
12949
Inst-Identifier
781
Keywords
Heart Rate Variability,High Performance Athlets,Sports
Recommended
0
Medium
BoehmuellerElke.pdf
Item sets
Thesis

Böhmüller Elke, “The influence of an Osteopathic treatment on the performance of a high - performance athlete”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed March 29, 2024, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/3029