Corticosteroid injection plus exercise versus exercise, beyond advice and a heel cup for patients with plantar fasciopathy: protocol for a randomised clinical superiority trial (the FIX-Heel trial)

Table 1 Exercise descriptors

1. Load magnitude	8 repetition maximum
2. Number of repetitions	≥ 8 depending on the load
3. Number of sets	As many as possible
4. Rest between sets	2 min
5. Number of exercise interventions	Every other day
6. Duration of the experimental period	8 weeks
7. Fractional and temporal distribution of the contraction modes per repetition and duration (in s) of one repetition	3 s concentric 2 s isometric 3 s eccentric
8. Rest between repetitions	No
9. Time under tension	8 s/repetition ≥ 64 s/set ≥ 64 s/training session
10. Volitional muscular failure	Yes
11. Range of motion	Full range of motion
12. Recovery time between exercise sessions	48 h
13. Anatomical definition of the exercise (exercise form)	The participant stands with the forefoot on a step. The toes are maximally dorsally flexed by placing a towel underneath them. The participant performs a heel raise to maximal plantar flexion in the ankle joint and afterwards lowers the heel to maximal dorsal flexion. Supporting oneself for balance by placing the hands on a wall or a rail is allowed.

ISSN: 1745-6215