Oliver Ludwig

Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau | TUK · FG Sportwissenschaft / Sport science

In this study, inter- and intra-individual gait pattern differences are examined in various gait situations by means of phase diagrams of the extremity angles (cyclograms). 8 test subjects walked along a walking distance of 6 meters under different conditions three times each: barefoot, wearing sneakers, wearing combat boots, after muscular fatigue...

This study represents a medically well-supported, strongly controlled methodology supported by an experienced physician and orthopedic technician in a blinded, randomized two-group design. This RCT addresses a critical area in musculoskeletal research by evaluating two custom-made FO approaches: sensorimotor foot orthoses (SMFO) and biomechanical f...

A Commentary on Commentary: Revised contraindications for the use of non-medical WB-electromyostimulation. Evidence-based German consensus recommendations By Reljic D, Herrmann HJ and Zopf Y (2024). Front Sports Act Living. 6:1425233. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1425233

Background: Individuals may exhibit altered foot pronation during gait when fatigue sets in. Therefore, a more evidence-based understanding of these fatigue-induced changes may be helpful for future gait analysis and return-to-play tests since fatigue can provide new insights that might explain a person's complaints. Methods: A total of 25 healthy...

• Historie, Entwicklung und Abgrenzung sensomotorischer Einlagen • Wirkidee sensomotorischer Einlagen • Aufbau und handwerkliche Umsetzung • Wissenschaftliche Evidenz • Indikationen, Limitationen und Kontraindikationen

Individuals may exhibit altered foot mechanics, in this case foot pronation, only when fatigue sets in. Therefore, a more evidence-based understanding of these fatigue-induced changes may be helpful for future gait analysis and return to play tests, since fatigue could provide new insights that might explain a person’s complaints. Methods: 25 healt...

Weak posture is a widely recognized problem affecting individuals of all ages, that can lead to back pain, which is a significant socio-economic burden in civil societies. Posture assessment enables the early detection of postural deficiencies, thus enabling proactive interventions. Therefore, it is an important tool for promoting public health, no...

Whole-body electromyostimulation has proven to be a highly effective alternative to conventional resistance-type exercise training. However, due to adverse effects in the past, very extensive contraindications have been put in place for the commercial, non-medical WB-EMS market. Considering recent positive innovations e.g., federal regulation, mand...

Purpose] The aim of this study was to examine whether the forward tilt of the sacrum, which can be measured using an inclinometer, correlates with pelvic tilt and is therefore suitable for therapeutic use as part of a postural assessment for treatment planning or for preventive screening. [Participants and Methods] In 121 athletes (22 females, 99 m...

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to examine whether the forward tilt of the sacrum, which can be measured using an inclinometer, correlates with pelvic tilt and is therefore suitable for therapeutic use as part of a postural assessment for treatment planning or for preventive screening. [Participants and Methods] In 121 athletes (22 females, 99...

The correction of postural weaknesses through the better positioning of the pelvis is an important approach in sports therapy and physiotherapy. The pelvic position in the sagittal plane is largely dependent on the muscular balance of the ventral and dorsal muscle groups. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine whether healthy persons use...

Background: Femoroacetabular impingement is one possible cause for groin pain and can lead to long periods of absence for football players. In cam impingement, the end-grade position of the leg at kicking makes the hip particularly prone to faulty contact between the acetabulum and the femoral head. Studies suggest that the resting position of the...

Objectives Fatigue can decrease knee stability and increase the injury risk. However, fatigue is rarely being applied throughout movement analysis. The aim of this study was to investigate if the knee stability throughout SLDLs differ between cyclic and acyclic sports, before and after fatigue in general, and between the dominant and non-dominant l...

Lifelong fitness training plays an essential role in building and maintaining health. Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is a time-efficient training method that could be used as an adequate training intervention for different persons due to the intensive, involuntary contraction of the musculature and the resulting increases in muscular per...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1174103.].

Postural deficits such as hyperlordosis (hollow back) or hyperkyphosis (hunchback) are relevant health issues. Diagnoses depend on the experience of the examiner and are, therefore, often subjective and prone to errors. Machine learning (ML) methods in combination with explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) tools have proven useful for providing...

Postural deficits such as hyperlordosis (hollow back) or hyperkyphosis (hunchback) are relevant health issues. Diagnoses depend on the experience of the examiner and are therefore often subjective and prone to errors. Machine learning (ML) methods in combination with explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) tools have proven useful for providing a...

Whole-Body Electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is a training technology that enables simultaneous stimulation of all the main muscle groups with a specific impulse intensity for each electrode. The corresponding time-efficiency and joint-friendliness of WB-EMS may be particularly attractive for people unable or unmotivated to conduct (intense) conventio...

Die Trainingswissenschaft ist historisch aus der Trainingslehre entstanden und kann als etablierte Kerndisziplin der Sportwissenschaft betrachtet werden. Die Trainingswissenschaft versteht sich als ganzheitliche, angewandte Humanwissenschaft zur Beschreibung, Erklärung und Begründung sowie zur wissenschaftlichen Fundierung der Gegenstandsbereiche T...

Das sportliche Training ist konstitutives Merkmal der Trainingswissenschaft. Verbreitete und historisch legitimierte Trainingsdefinitionen beziehen sich i. d. R. auf Leistungsverbesserungen, welche durch systematische, planbare und sachorientierte Einwirkungen erzielt werden sollen. Im Gegensatz dazu stehen vom Anwendungsfeld abhängige Begriffsvers...

Poor posture is a well-known problem in all age groups and can lead to back pain, which in turn can result in high socioeconomic costs. Regular assessment of posture can therefore help to identify postural deficits at an early stage in order to take preventive measures and can therefore be an important tool for promoting public health. We measured...

Although the influence of muscle activity on the pelvic position has been proven, research on the influence of (asymmetric) muscle fatigue on the pelvic position is inconsistent. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of asymmetric fatigue of the lateral trunk muscles on the pelvic position based on a pre/post/follow-up design....

The objectification of acute fatigue (during isometric muscle contraction) and cumulative fatigue (due to multiple intermittent isometric muscle contractions) plays an important role in sport climbing. The data of 42 participants were used in the study. Climbing performance was operationalized using maximal climbing-specific holding time (CSHT) by...

Das vorliegende essential gibt einen kompakten Einblick in das komplexe Feld der Analyse des menschlichen Ganges. Neben der Darstellung grundlegender Konzepte der Ganganalytik stellen die Autoren die systematische Unterteilung des Gangzyklus dar und gehen auf relevante Analyseparameter und Fehlerquellen ein. Der Leser erhält eine einführende Übersi...

Die Entwicklung der wissenschaftlichen Ganganalyse war beeinflusst von den messmethodischen Optionen, die es erlaubten, neben der rein visuellen Inspektion durch den geschulten Beobachter, relevante Parameter des Gangbilds zu registrieren. Erste wichtige Beiträge dazu kamen von dem französischen Physiologen und Erfinder Étienne-Jules Marey (1830–19...

Die Ganganalyse hat mittlerweile ein sehr breites Anwendungsfeld. Die eingesetzten Methoden variieren je nach Fragestellung und den zur Verfügung stehenden Ressourcen. Im Folgenden sollen die wichtigsten Anwendungsgebiete dargestellt werden.

Die bei der Ganganalyse erhobenen Parameter lassen sich in mehrere Kategorien einteilen.

Die Ganganalyse, die im wissenschaftlichen und im praktischen Kontext einsetzbar ist, unterliegt einem Spagat zwischen verschiedenen Anforderungsprofilen Abb. 3.1. Einfach gesagt steht die praxistaugliche Anwendung mit der Vorgabe einer möglichst berührungsfreien sowie zeit- und investitionsökonomischen Messung aktuell im Widerspruch zur wissenscha...

Handgrip strength (HGS) appears to be an indicator of climbing performance. The trans-ferability of HGS measurements obtained using a hand dynamometer and factors that influence the maximal climbing-specific holding time (CSHT) are largely unclear. Forty-eight healthy subjects (27 female, 21 male; age: 22.46 ± 3.17 years; height: 172.76 ± 8.91 cm;...

1) Background. The coronavirus pandemic had a serious impact on the everyday life of children and young people with sometimes drastic effects on daily physical activity time that could have led to posture imbalances. The aim of the study was to examine whether a six-week, feedback-supported online training programme could improve posture parameters...

Lehrformate der Sportwissenschaft an der TU Kaiserslautern orientieren sich am Grundgedanken einer forschungsorientierten Lehre (Reimann, 2016). Drei fachgebietseigenen Laboren kommt dabei eine Schlüsselrolle beim praktischen und fachwissenschaftlichen Kompetenzerwerb zu. Diese Lehr-Lern-Labore stehenden den Studierenden aus den Studiengängen B.Ed....

Die Analyse der menschlichen Bewegung liefert häufig den Schlüssel zum Verständnis und zur Therapie von Problemen des Haltungs- und Bewegungsapparates. Schon mit einfacher Videoanalyse und Druckverteilungsmessungen lassen sich wesentliche Erkenntnisse gewinnen, um die Versorgung der Patienten zu verbessern. Das dazu nötige Praxiswissen vermittelt d...

Monitoring exhaustion using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) wearable biosensors seems promising in sports climbing. However, there is a lack of research regarding climbing specific muscular exhaustion and muscle oxidative metabolism. The current study analyses how exhaustion affects muscle oxidative metabolism and deduces to what extent measurem...

Early detection of unilateral muscle fatigue and muscular imbalances is important to prevent injury. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of near-infrared thermography (IRT) and raster-stereography (RS) in detecting asymmetries. After unilateral trunk muscle fatigue, IRT detected changes in the skin surface temperature only immediately after...

To improve the performance and capabilities of athletes, augmented reality could play an important role in exercise training. During training, these technologies support athletes in analyzing their training over all phases. Regardless of all potential advantages, the vergence-accommodation-conflict (VAC) could affect the effectiveness of training a...

The present study aimed to assess the effects of asymmetric muscle fatigue on the skin surface temperature of abdominal and back muscles. The study was based on a pre-post/follow-up design with one group and included a total of 41 subjects (22 male, 19 female; age, 22.63 ± 3.91; weight, 71.89 ± 12.97 kg; height, 173.36 ± 9.95). All the participants...

Hintergrund: Die Positionierung des Beckens im Raum beeinflusst die Haltung des Rumpfes entscheidend, da sie die mechanische Basis für die Wirbelsäule darstellt. Die Beckenstellung wiederum ist durch biomechanische, artikuläre sowie neuromuskuläre Faktoren bestimmt. Eine bedeutende Zahl pathologischer Entitäten resultiert aus Veränderungen der Beck...

EINLEITUNG Krafttraining im Jugendfußball dient sowohl der Verbesserung der sportartspezifischen Leistungsfähigkeit (Sprint, Sprung, Schusskraft) als auch der Prävention von Verletzungen durch eine stärkere muskuläre Grundstruktur der im Fußball beanspruchten Muskelgruppen (Brito et al., 2010; Ekstrand, Hägglund & Waldén, 2011). Steigende Trainings...

There is little scientific evidence regarding the cumulative effect of purposeful heading. The head-neck-torso alignment is considered to be of great importance when it comes to minimizing potential risks when heading. Therefore, this study determined the relationship between head-neck-torso alignment (cervical spine, head, thoracic spine) and the...

A 17-year-old male road cyclist with unspecific back pain and postural deficiency regarding the depth of the lumbar lordosis (flèche lombaire [fl]) and the upper body tilt (forward trunk tilt [tt]) absolved an 8-week whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) training to improve performance parameters and health issues. During WB-EMS, muscle groups...

Strength training in youth soccer has both a preventive and a sports-specific component. Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) could represent an interesting time-saving add-on to classical strength exercises in performance-oriented soccer. The objective of this study was to find out whether a 10-week superimposed WB-EMS training might have a m...

This study examined a potential age-dependency of both posture and stability (balance) control in children and adolescents in a healthy population. Body posture with open and closed eyes was examined for a total of 456 test persons (age 6.7–17.6 years. Posture parameters (posture index, upper body tilt, trunk tilt) were assessed in the sagittal pla...

Pain in the pubic symphysis is of significance, especially in high-performance sports. Pelvic torsion, possibly caused by muscular imbalances, is discussed as a pathogenic mechanism. This study examined a possible interrelationship between the maximum torques of quadriceps femoris and hamstrings and the spatial positioning of the hemi-pelvises, as...

[Purpose] Whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) is an extension of the EMS application known in physical therapy. In WB-EMS, body composition and skinfold thickness seem to play a decisive role in influencing the Ohmic resistance and therefore the maximum intensity tolerance. That is why the therapeutic success of (WB-)EMS may depend on individ...

The difference in the efficacy of altered stimulation parameters in whole-body-electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) training remains largely unexplored. However, higher impulse frequencies (>50 Hz) might be most adequate for strength gain. The aim of this study was to analyze potential differences in sports-related performance parameters after a 10-week...

In their recent viewpoint and article, Stöllberger and Finsterer 1 2 criticize the inadequate regulation of “whole body-electromyostimulation” (WB-EMS), potentially responsible for a variety of adverse effects recently reported. 3-6 Indeed, in contrast to locally applied EMS, the stimulation of all, or at least most, major muscle groups characteriz...

The difference in the efficacy of altered stimulation parameters in whole-body-electromyostimulation training (WB-EMS) has hardly been examined. Higher impulse frequencies (>50 Hz) might be most adequate for strength gains because of the force frequency relationship (FFR), which describes a greater force production by increasing the applied frequen...

The importance of well trained and stable neck flexors and exten-sors as well as trunk muscles for intentional headers in soccer is increasingly discussed. The neck flexors and extensors should ensure a coupling of trunk and head at the time of ball contact to increase the physical mass hitting the ball and reduce head acceleration. The aim of the...

Rare but regularly recurring complications are leading to ongoing regulation of the commercial, non-medical whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) market. In addition to the revised German Radiation Protection Statutes (NiSV), the ?Deutsche Industrie Norm? (DIN) 33961-5 was recently published with safety policies for WB-EMS application, anchorin...

Das sportliche Training ist konstitutives Merkmal der Trainingswissenschaft. Verbreitete und historisch legitimierte Trainingsdefinitionen beziehen sich i. d. R. auf Leistungsverbesserungen, welche durch systematische, planbare und sachorientierte Einwirkungen erzielt werden sollen. Im Gegensatz dazu stehen vom Anwendungsfeld abhängige Begriffsvers...

Muscular imbalances of the trunk muscles are held responsible for changes in body posture. At the same time, whole-body electromyostimulation (WB-EMS) has been established as a new training method that enables simultaneous stimulation of many muscle groups. This study was aiming to analyze if a 10 weeks WB-EMS training changes posture-relevant para...

1) Background: The importance of a strong and stable trunk musculature is well known, but there is a lack of reliable, valid and objective test batteries with the necessary test economy, practicability and cost-benefit ratio. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the Bourban test for the validity of its exercise selection representing the ve...

Die Trainingswissenschaft ist historisch aus der Trainingslehre entstanden und kann als etablierte Kerndisziplin der Sportwissenschaft betrachtet werden. Die Trainingswissenschaft versteht sich als ganzheitliche, angewandte Humanwissenschaft zur Beschreibung, Erklärung und Begründung sowie zur wissenschaftlichen Fundierung der Gegenstandsbereiche T...

Separate from the field-specific definition of the German term ‘training’ in training science, there is an everyday understanding which is rarely empirically described. Therefore, this study will analyze (1) the relationship between personal characteristics and the subject-related importance of training, (2) the assigned relevance of training in va...

Poor posture in childhood and adolescence is held responsible for the occurrence of associated disorders in adult age. This study aimed to verify whether body posture in adolescence can be enhanced through the improvement of neuromuscular performance, attained by means of targeted strength, stretch, and body perception training, and whether any suc...

The core muscles play a central role in stabilizing the head during headers in soccer. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of a fatigued core musculature on the acceleration of the head during jump headers and run headers. Acceleration of the head was measured in a pre-post-design in 68 soccer players (age: 21.5 � 3.8 years, he...

Background: Osteitis pubis is a common cause of chronic groin pain. Due to high clinical uncertainty and varying etiopathology, the diagnosis is often delayed. Especially athletes suffer from this disease, but patients with orthopaedic, traumatological, neurological, urological, gynaecological, and rheumatic complaints can also be affected. Osteit...

[Purpose] This study examined possible interrelationships between postural sway and posture parameters in children and adolescents with a particular focus on posture weakness. [Subjects and Methods] 308 healthy children and adolescents (124 girls, 184 boys, aged 12.3 ± 2.5 years) participated in the study. Posture parameters (posture index, head pr...

Background: Posture weakness in children and adolescents is described with a prevalence of up to 65%. Interrelationships with back and neck complaints are known. This long-term study was to verify how targeted posture training impacts body posture and the extent to which possible positive effects may be transferable from adolescence into adulthood....

More than 70% of all knee injuries in soccer occur in non-contact situations. It is known that increased lower limb dynamic knee valgus is associated with such situations. Little has been found out about differences in knee kinematics of the dominant (kicking) and non-dominant (supporting) leg during a single leg landing. A total of 114 male adoles...

In soccer, headers are a tactical measure and influenced by numerous factors. The goal of this study was to identify whether changes in kinematics and muscular activity, especially of the head-stabilizing muscles, occur during headers when the core musculature is fatigued. In two subgroups, muscular activity (12 amateur players, age 23.6 ± 4.2 year...

Background: Increased anterior pelvic tilt is one important contributor of poor posture in children and adolescents and caused by muscular imbalance. This study aims at identifying the extent to which a sensorimotor training reduces anterior pelvic tilt more effectively than pure strength and stretch training alone. Methods: 54 male adolescents (ag...

Identification of perpetrators by means of closed-circuit TV (CCTV) increasingly gains in importance. In many crime scenarios, the perpetrator is masked, which could lead to limitations of the field of vision. This study aims at examining potential changes of forensically relevant gait parameters caused by masking. 12 persons in short clothes repea...

J.Perryの『歩行分析-正常歩行と異常歩行』、K.Neumannの『観察による歩行分析』の2大名著を踏まえ、ドイツ人でバイオメカニクスの専門家O.Ludwigが歩行と走行のビデオ解析、インソール型・ペドグラフィーを用いた足底圧分布計測をもとに、正常とその逸脱を明確に定義。イニシャルコンタクト、ターミナルスタンスなど理学療法士が使い慣れた歩行相を用いて異常歩行へのコンサルテーションがなされている。

Hintergrund: In den letzten Jahren sind zahlreiche Studien zu gesundheitsschädigenden Ereignissen (gsE) im Fußball erschienen. Ziel dieser Arbeit war, neben der Einordung der Studien nach ihrer Evidenz, die Datenlage in Bezug auf Probandenzahl, Athletenstatus, Geschlechterverteilung und Genese von gsE im Fußball zu untersuchen. Methodik: Für den Ze...

Background Peroneus longus acts as a foot evertor and pronator, thus ensuring stability of the talocrural joint by curbing inversion movement of the rearfoot. Increased activation of the peroneus longus muscle in the stance phase could have a stabilising effect on the ankle joint. This study aimed to determine whether the activity of the peroneus l...