Having piloted the system during an Innovate UK co-funded project during 2015/16 the English Institute of Sport has invested in the MUJO ‘smart’ upper limb devices to continue the support provided to elite level athletes on the British Gymnastics performance programme.
Funding support was provided via Sport England after the devices were successfully evaluated and incorporated into the periodic evaluation programs of shoulder (rotator cuff) capacity of 40-50 senior and junior athletes including one of the stars of the Rio Olympics, five-time olympic medalist Max Whitlock MBE.
Ruddy Farquharson, senior strength & conditioning and rehabilitation coach with British Gymnastics explained:
“The MUJO system offers a repeatable and objective assessment tool to assist our data capture and analysis process. We use it predominantly to identify posterior cuff weakness which can become an issue in this group of athletes due to the specific nature of the demands placed on them by the sport”.
Dr Ian Horsley PhD Msc MCSP MMACP CSCS, physiotherapist and upper limb research lead at the English Institute of Sport said:
“Having supported the development of the system we are excited to be able to implement this latest technology in our pathways. We’re looking forward to exploring its use in other groups of our athletes susceptible to similarly high-rates of shoulder-related issues including British Swimming”.
In addition to periodic benchmarking the system is used to deliver and monitor on-site exercise protocols to those athletes who have been red-flagged through injury.