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20 Competitive Athletes of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Where Randomly Assigned in a Myofascial Diaphragm Release Technique or a Sham Technique in Order to Investigate the Immediate Effects of Thoracic Mobility and Chest Expansion

NCT07150039 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 20

Last updated 2025-09-02

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Thoracic injuries, in high level competitive Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ) athletes occupied a significant percentage of all musculoskeletal injuries in this population. Important factors for reducing injury rates are suggested to be spine and thoracic flexibility, which assist athletes in performing offensive/defensive techniques. The diaphragm, as one of the main thoracic and breathing muscles, appears to affect spinal flexibility and chest expansion. Thus, this study's objective was to investigate the immediate effects of a myofascial release technique of the diaphragm on chest mobility (expansion) and spinal range of movement (ROM) in BJJ athletes.

Conditions

  • Competitive Atheletes of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Interventions

OTHER

Manual therapy intervention (Chaitow's myofascial diaphragm release)

Participants were given a myofascial release technique from a seated position, as described by Chaitow. With this technique, the athlete slightly bends his/her torso in order to relax the abdominal wall and breathes calmly and deeply (Figure 2). The therapist is behind the athlete holding his/her lower ribs, and during exhalation the therapist directs his hands caudally. This steady but gentle 'traction' is maintained throughout the breathing cycles for 4-5 minutes.

OTHER

Sham Comparison

With this sham comparator technique, the therapist stood behind the athlete (who was sitting) touching the outside of the person's lower ribs without folding his or her fingers or applying any pressure. The athlete is verbally instructed, after fully exhaling the air in their lungs to take deep breaths opening his/her ribs as much as he/she can whistle the therapist's hands follow the movement (without applying any manual pressure or traction). The procedure here also lasted for 4-5 minutes

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Evdokia Billis

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Evdokia Billis, Physiotherapy · University of Patras

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
50 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2023-09-05
Primary Completion
2024-04-15
Completion
2024-07-02

Countries

  • Greece

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07150039 on ClinicalTrials.gov