Impact of National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercises on Gait and Postural Control in Individuals With Chronic Ankle Instability: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Context: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) is associated with altered gait mechanics and impaired sensorimotor function (eg, postural control). While corrective exercise programs are known to improve sensorimotor function in those with CAI, their impact on gait-related outcomes remains unclear.

Design: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a corrective exercise program on gait kinetics and postural control in individuals with CAI.

Methods: Seventy recreational and collegiate athletes with CAI (aged 18-35) completed the randomized controlled trial. Participants were recruited from the local sports community and randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 34) or an intervention group (n = 36). The intervention group participated in an 8-week National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) corrective exercise program, while the control group received no intervention. The NASM program targets muscle relaxation, lengthening, and activation, and finally, integration into functional movements. Gait kinetics, such as contact time, foot progression angle, and peak plantar forces, as well as postural control, were assessed at baseline and postintervention and submitted to 2-way repeated-measure analysis of variance to evaluate the effects of the intervention.

Results: Significant interaction effects were observed for postural control (P < .01) and gait contact time (P = .001), indicating greater improvements in the NASM group compared to the control group. No significant group or interaction effects were observed for specific plantar force distribution regions or other gait outcomes (P > .05).

Conclusion: The findings suggest that an 8-week NASM corrective exercise program improves postural control but has limited effects on gait kinetics in individuals with CAI.