Effects of fatigue on lower limb muscles pre-motor time during single leg landing

Introduction: The aim of the study was to compare effects of fatigue on pre-motor time (PMT) in lower limbmuscles in basketball players with and without chronic low back pain(CLBP) during single-leg landing. Methods:twenty-four athletes were divided into two groups; healthy (n;12, age; 23.58±2.23 years, weight; 87.00±10.29 kg,height; 188.00±7.82 cm, BMI;24.52±1.14 kg/m2) and patient (n;12, age; 23.83±1.85, weight; 79.66±8.95, height;183.91±6.73, BMI; 23.47±1.33 kg/m2) participated in the study. Electromyography activity was measured of thedominant leg in a single leg landing conditions in response to a visual stimulus. Results: Data illustrated thatthere was a significant increase in PMT for all muscles of the dominant leg lower limb in the group ofchronic low back pain (p=0.001). The PMTs (p=0.001) of all muscles in the chronic low back paingroup was significantly longer for the muscles of the dominant leg lower limb compared to the healthygroup. In two groups, PMT was pre-test and post-test for each muscle analyzed. The statistical analysisdid reveal significant differences between the values in pre-test and post-test on PMTs (p=0.001) for VL,VM, BF, and SM_M muscles for the dominant leg lower limb in both groups. Conclusion: It seems thatthe significant increase of the PMT in basketball players with chronic low back pain after fatigue pointsto increased duration of information processing in the central nervous system. Measuring thesequantities may be of value in assessing the risk of lower limb injuries in basketball players with chroniclow back pain.