The Effects of Plyometric Training on Spinal and Supraspinal Motor Control in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Prevention

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of plyometric training on spinal and supraspinal motor control in healthy active females. Methods: Thirty-one participants were recruited to participate in the study. Participants participated in either the training or control group for 6-weeks. All participants were measured pre-and post-intervention on H:M ratios, HD, RI, and V-waves. A 2 (Group) x 2 (Session) x 2 (Stance) mixed model design was used for homosynaptic depression (HD) and recurrent inhibition (RI) data. A 2 (Group) x 2 (Session) mixed model design was used for H:M ratios and V-waves (V:M ratios) data. Results: There were no statistically significant interactions for any of the dependent variables (p > 0.05). There was a session main effect for RI (p = 0.01) as well as a group main effect (p = 0.01) and a stance main effect (p < 0.01) for HD. Conclusions: Performing plyometric training does not modulate the spinal or supraspinal motor control based on the findings of this study. Plyometric training is not the only component that should be used in anterior cruciate ligament injury prevention programs to alter motor control. Further investigation warrants research in a more challenging and higher impact plyometric exercises on the changes to neural drive of the physically active participants.