For my Original Work Project, I have decided that I will be running a long term physical therapy experiment - on myself. From October 1st to December 1st, I will be doing eight physical therapy exercises daily that are commonly used to combat the aches and pains that soccer players typically go into the clinic for help with. I am applying both skills that I have learned from my own physical therapy journey as well as data that I have gathered and analyzed through extensive research regarding soccer players, their common injuries, and how to treat them with physical therapy in order to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of my experiment. Throughout these eight weeks, I will be tracking how I feel, how my performance on the field is, and if the muscles in my legs get any bigger.
Through both my research on the topic and simply discussing injuries with my teammates, I have analyzed my information and come to the conclusion that the exercises commonly used to help athletes feel better, get stronger, and prevent further injuries are relatively the same. They all have a very similar foundation, and the variations in the exercises depend on the severity of the injury and the body part being treated. Through further conversation with my peers, research interviews with professionals and potential mentors, and reading many articles on this topic, I have compiled a list of the eight most common exercises used to treat soccer players; Reverse Nordic Hamstring Curl, Single Leg Heel Raise, Seated Juggling (for core stability), Reactive Squat Jump, Skater Hops, Single Leg RDLs, Full Copenhagen Side Plank, and Multidirectional Ankle Toe Taps. Throughout the creation of my Original Work Project, I will be illustrating my hard work and dedication skills in order to complete my labor-intensive project. It will be difficult to keep up with all of my exercises as well as track how I feel, but I will utilize my unwillingness to procrastinate in order to answer these questions - - was it beneficial for me? Did it help me to improve as a soccer player and prevent injuries? Do the eight most beneficial physical therapy exercises for soccer players work better in combination or solo? The purpose of it all is simple - to find a way to help soccer players like myself to combat annoying and burdening aches and pains that will slow them down. My goal is to help out athletes like me and enable them to be better.
My Original Work Proposal is this: I will run an eight week long ‘experiment’ on myself where I do these eight physical therapy exercises for soccer players four times a week. I will do each exercise in three sets of 10, unweighted. The only material I will need (besides my own body) is a foam roller. On Sundays, I will use a foam roller on my quads, hamstrings, calves, and IT bands. Also on Sundays, I will reflect upon how my body felt over the past week, how my performance was on the field, and if the size of the muscles in my legs have increased. The purpose of my project is to see how combining the eight physical therapy exercises that are supposed to help soccer players improve their balance, stability, and strength the most will affect me over a period of two months. I will be constructing this experiment alone as the only participant and analyzing the data I receive. From there, I will evaluate the data in order to come to my conclusion.
Throughout the course of my Original Work Project, I hope to accomplish my goal of gathering information that will be helpful to other soccer players. By constructing, analyzing, and assessing results and data, I will demonstrate my extensive knowledge on my topic of physical therapy throughout my thorough and original experiment. This information will be very helpful to my soccer community, seeing as players, parents, and coaches can utilize this information.
By gathering this information, I can make a conclusion on how beneficial these exercises are and even take it a step further by introducing my findings to my soccer community in the form of a Final Project. If my work is successful, it can lead to the prevention of many easily avoidable (but long lasting) injuries as well as the production of more stable, flexible, and stronger soccer players.