Date of Award

May 2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Foundations & Research

First Advisor

Steven LeMire

Abstract

Wellness among athletes has been studied, but it is still unclear what dimensions make up wellness and where the clinician should focus their efforts. It is known that wellness is a multifaceted definition and has many dimensions. This dissertation will look at the dimension of physical wellness of an athlete pertaining to prevention, return to sport/rehabilitation, and enhancing performance. The purpose of the study is to understand how a clinician may have a direct effect on the physical wellness of the athlete through prevention, intervention or rehabilitation, and performance training. This paper will discuss three different sub-dimensions of physical wellness, which may help improve the athlete’s overall wellness.

The first article is related to the Functional Movement Screen (FMS™). The FMS™ looks at the quality of seven fundamental movement patterns that the athlete performs in their normal day to day life. The purpose of the FMS™ is to screen movement patterns and look for poor quality or pain. If the athlete is not moving well with the seven movement patterns or is having pain, then the clinician can address those deficits to reduce the athlete’s risk of injury. The first article’s focus is on prevention.

The second article is related to photobiomodulation (PBM) and the timeframe for the athlete to return to their sport after injury. This article is looking at parameters for PBM to use to help return the athlete back to their sport as soon as possible. This article also looks at outcome measures such as pain and functional measures of the athlete.

The third article is related to performance using blood flow restriction (BFR) to improve throwing velocity in healthy individuals. This article is looking at if BFR training in the upper extremity has a positive effect on strength within the rotator cuff and therefore may improve throwing velocity when compared to a non-BFR group completing the same exercises.

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