Need custom CPD for your team, or help with an athlete? I deliver
custom CPD sessions for clubs, clinics, and departments and offer athlete
consults (geography is not a barrier!).
So, what is physical function capacity (PFC)? It is a group
of outcome measures that assess physical qualities in people and athletes, e.g.
endurance, hop metrics, force output, etc. As we know, strength is a multidimensional
concept. This is relevant for our clinical assessment because people can be
good at some strength qualities and not at others, especially when they are recovering from an injury or painful condition. I commonly see people with, for example,
excellent MVIC in a particular range, but not in others. Having a PFC
assessment framework allows you to identify issues which directly inform rehab.
A few things to note about this framework.
·You definitely cannot assess it all and you
would not want to. What you assess is guided by where the athlete or person is
in their rehab process (it changes as they progress) and clues about what is relevant (e.g. impairment at
specific ranges or with specific tasks).
·The colours match the Tendinopathy Rehab
Framework I launched not long ago (https://www.tendinopathyrehab.com/blog/tendinopathy-rehab-framework).
Loosely, there are level 1, 2 and 3 assessments that I typically use, although
the boundaries are often blurred depending on the individual.
·The PLYO options are all riding the lower part
of the force-velocity curve, ie super-fast CONC actions. You may have noticed there
are no fast ECC assessments (no arrows go there) but of course these PLYO assessments
involve fast ECC actions. That is, the PLYO qualities are tendon elasticity focused
as opposed to the other high speed or CONC intent tasks riding the
force-velocity curve which are muscle focused.
My next blog I will be talking about how knowledge of the
muscle-tendon unit moment arm around a joint can help you to design better ISOM
rehab programs to achieve various goals.