Title: Reducing the back overuse-related risks in alpine ski racing: let’s put research into sports practice
Abstract: It is well recognised in alpine ski racing (ASR) that the risk of traumatic injuries is high.1 Yet, so far the nature and causation of ASR-related back overuse injuries have received little attention.2 During adolescence, competitive alpine skiers are already suffering from more prevalent spinal disc degeneration and more severe back pain than age-matched controls.3 Factors previously suggested as being important components of mechanisms leading to overuse injuries of the back are: (1) adverse trunk kinematics including a combined occurrence of frontal bending, lateral bending and torsion,4 (2) high ground reaction forces,4 and (3) excessive exposure to low-frequency whole-body vibrations (WBV) (~4–10 Hz; ie, frequencies close to resonant frequency of the spine; known to be the most damaging to spinal structures).5 6 All of these factors have been demonstrated to be inherent parts of ASR and occur in different combinations and intensities.4 5 Despite applying quite radical equipment and course modifications, previous studies discovered the ASR-specific overall trunk kinematics to be unchangeable.7 8
Regarding low-frequency WBV exposure in combination with high ground reaction forces, recent studies revealed significant differences in the power spectral density (ie, the signal’s power distribution over frequency) and the root mean square of low-frequency weighted vibrations …