An Athlete Screening Case Study by Thomas Osborne (Physiotherapist)
This case study aims to provide evidence as to how beneficial the Athlete Screening can be and to show that it can benefit all different types of sports. This case study shows that it can provide benefits to all from a gym user to runner or team sport player. This is due to the bespoke nature to the exercises provided, and the tailored screening used.
Female, aged 32
She goes to the gym 4x a week
Wanted an Athlete Screening session with our physiotherapist to assess her weakness and imbalances, as she has a history of pain on the inside of the left knee.
Upon initial assessment we found that her left side hip and knee musculature was weak, meaning that her left knee was falling inwards during a squat or landing task. This was more prominent on a single leg or hopping activity.
As shown by the table above, we identified the weaknesses and provided the exercises to help strengthen and reduce the imbalances. The starred (**) boxes show where we were more concerned about injury risk. Post 8 weeks of exercises, she managed to progress well and strengthen as shown by the results in the table.
Overall, this evidence shows that the exercises helped strengthen her lower limb musculature which in turn helped her performance, reducing injury risk by improving technique and control over movements.
She reported that she had no knee pain after just 2 weeks of doing the exercises provided, and that she felt more even when squatting or doing any other movement like it. She also stated that her single leg stability felt much better, giving her more confidence to perform these exercises safely in the gym.
Thomas Osborne, Physiotherapist at JRM Physiotherapy
BSc, MSc, HCPC, MCSP, AACP
