Effectiveness of an Eight-Week- Comprehensive Combined Program on Functional Strength of the Active Men with Functional Ankle Instability

Background and Objective: People with functional ankle instability face various complications which entail quick actions via multifaceted and combined exercises. Therefore, the main objective of this semi-experimental research was to determine the effectiveness of the comprehensive combined programs on functional strength of ankle in active men with functional ankle instability. Materials and Methods: The subjects of this research were active university men with functional ankle instability (with a mean age and standard deviation of 20.00 ± 3.72 year and mean height of 185.85 ± 8.55 cm), of whom 30 were selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (15 in the control group and 15 in the experimental group ). The experimental group performed eight weeks of combined exercises, mostly neuro-muscular and strength training exercises (using red Tera band), for eight weeks and three sessions per week for one hour. The research variable was the functional strength of the ankle muscles. The instruments for collecting research data were isokinetic biodex system3, and foot ankle inability index questionnaire. To figure out the normality of inputs, Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used and to compare groups, Covariance test was run and to attain differences within groups, paired t-test was used. Results: Results showed significant differences before and after the exercise program in the experimental group. However, in the control group these changes were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The results of the current research showed that combined program can be effective and reliable in improving functional strength of agonist and antagonist muscles.