Functional Movement Training Versus Functional Stability Training in Post-ACL Surgery

September 26, 2026 updated by: Riphah International University

Effects of Functional Movement Training Versus Functional Stability Training on Stregth, Balance and Performance in Athelets With Post-ACL Reconstruction

This randomized controlled trial study will include 32 athletes aged 18-35 who had ACL surgery. After surgery, participants will be selected and assigned randomly to the Functional Movement Training or Functional Stability Training groups. The Functional Movement Training protocol will include exercise: deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, active straight leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotatory stability etc. The Functional Stability Training protocol will emphasize exercises Single-leg squats, Balance boards or BOSU ball training, Planks and side planks., Step-ups, lunges, and agility drills. Both exercises will be performed 3 times per week for 8 weeks. The main goals will be to assess pain, balance and function and knee stability. The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Japanese Knee Questionnaire (JACL 25) and PRSI tools will be used for collecting data. The analysis will be conducted with SPSS software and it will include use of descriptive statistics, Normality test, independent t-tests, and paired t-tests. The significance level will be p < 0.05 for this study.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Athletes involves fast movement and intense activity which places great stress on the leg muscles and increases the chances of ACL injuries. Changing direction quickly, jumping and landing strangely or encountering another person or an object can result in these injuries. Rehabilitation efforts after ACL reconstruction should cover strengthening the joint and enhancing neuromuscular skills that athletes need for their sporting activities. It is hypothesized that following rehabilitation protocols involving functional movements and stability exercises may improve control of muscles, make joints more stable and lead to safer movement techniques. Aiming to see the effects of Functional Movement Training compared to Functional Stability Training on function and stability post-ACL surgery in athletes, this study will investigate their meaning.

This randomized controlled trial study will include 32 athletes aged 18-35 who had ACL surgery. After surgery, participants will be selected and assigned randomly to the Functional Movement Training or Functional Stability Training groups. The Functional Movement Training protocol will include exercise: deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, active straight leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotatory stability etc. The Functional Stability Training protocol will emphasize exercises Single-leg squats, Balance boards or BOSU ball training, Planks and side planks., Step-ups, lunges, and agility drills. Both exercises will be performed 3 times per week for 8 weeks. The main goals will be to assess pain, balance and function and knee stability. The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Japanese Knee Questionnaire (JACL 25) and PRSI tools will be used for collecting data. The analysis will be conducted with SPSS software and it will include use of descriptive statistics, Normality test, independent t-tests, and paired t-tests. The significance level will be p < 0.05 for this study.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

32

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab Province
      • Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan, 54660
        • Recruiting
        • Sheikh zayed hospital Lahore
        • Contact:
        • Contact:
          • Rimza Ramzan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 35 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Male

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male Athletes
  • Athletes aged between 18-35 years
  • Athletes who have undergone ACL reconstructive surgery within the previous 3-6 months .

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of multiple knee surgeries (meniscus repair, partial meniscectomy, or cartilage repair) Other lower limb injuries affecting rehabilitation
  • Systemic illnesses affecting musculoskeletal function
  • Individuals with alcohol or drug abuse issues
  • Those involved in other weight and balance training programs

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Functional stability training
Other: Functional stability training

The Functional Stability Training protocol will emphasize exercises Single-leg squats, Balance boards or BOSU ball training, Planks and side planks., Step-ups, lunges, and agility drills.
Experimental: Functional Movement training

Funtional movement training
Other: Functional Movement training

The Functional Movement Training protocol will include exercise: deep squat, hurdle step, in-line lunge, active straight leg raise, trunk stability push-up, and rotatory stability etc.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Numeric Pain rating Scale
Time Frame: Pre and 6 week post interventional

The Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) is an 11-point pain intensity scale where patients rate their pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain)
Pre and 6 week post interventional
JACL-25 (Japanese Anterior Cruciate Ligament Questionnaire 25)
Time Frame: Pre and 6 week post interventional

Stablity and function through JACL-25, The JACL-25 (Japanese Anterior Cruciate Ligament Questionnaire 25) is a patient-reported outcome measure scored from 0 to 100, where higher scores indicate a worse condition, greater fear of motion, or higher psychological disability
Pre and 6 week post interventional

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Riphah International University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rimza Ramzan, DPT, Study Principal Investigator

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 15, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 21, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 30, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 26, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • REC/RCR & AHS/25/0420

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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