TY - JOUR
T1 - Knee stiffness is a major determinant of leg stiffness during maximal hopping
AU - Hobara, Hiroaki
AU - Muraoka, Tetsuro
AU - Omuro, Kohei
AU - Gomi, Kouki
AU - Sakamoto, Masanori
AU - Inoue, Koh
AU - Kanosue, Kazuyuki
N1 - Funding Information:
This study received grant support from Waseda University, the Institute of Top Performance (#10). The authors thank Kozo Kimura, the Sport Neuroscience laboratory, the Faculty of Sport Sciences, the Waseda University for data collection and analysis. Finally, the authors also thank Dr. Larry Crawshaw for careful reviews of earlier drafts.
Copyright:
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2009/8/7
Y1 - 2009/8/7
N2 - Understanding stiffness of the lower extremities during human movement may provide important information for developing more effective training methods during sports activities. It has been reported that leg stiffness during submaximal hopping depends primarily on ankle stiffness, but the way stiffness is regulated in maximal hopping is unknown. The goal of this study was to examine the hypothesis that knee stiffness is a major determinant of leg stiffness during the maximal hopping. Ten well-trained male athletes performed two-legged hopping in place with a maximal effort. We determined leg and joint stiffness of the hip, knee, and ankle from kinetic and kinematic data. Knee stiffness was significantly higher than ankle and hip stiffness. Further, the regression model revealed that only knee stiffness was significantly correlated with leg stiffness. The results of the present study suggest that the knee stiffness, rather than those of the ankle or hip, is the major determinant of leg stiffness during maximal hopping.
AB - Understanding stiffness of the lower extremities during human movement may provide important information for developing more effective training methods during sports activities. It has been reported that leg stiffness during submaximal hopping depends primarily on ankle stiffness, but the way stiffness is regulated in maximal hopping is unknown. The goal of this study was to examine the hypothesis that knee stiffness is a major determinant of leg stiffness during the maximal hopping. Ten well-trained male athletes performed two-legged hopping in place with a maximal effort. We determined leg and joint stiffness of the hip, knee, and ankle from kinetic and kinematic data. Knee stiffness was significantly higher than ankle and hip stiffness. Further, the regression model revealed that only knee stiffness was significantly correlated with leg stiffness. The results of the present study suggest that the knee stiffness, rather than those of the ankle or hip, is the major determinant of leg stiffness during maximal hopping.
KW - Leg spring
KW - Sports performance
KW - Spring-mass model
KW - Torsional spring model
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2009.04.047
DO - 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2009.04.047
M3 - Article
C2 - 19486983
AN - SCOPUS:67651163429
SN - 0021-9290
VL - 42
SP - 1768
EP - 1771
JO - Journal of Biomechanics
JF - Journal of Biomechanics
IS - 11
ER -