Determinant of leg stiffness during hopping is frequency-dependent

Identifying the major determinant of leg stiffness during hopping would be helpful in the development of more effective training methods. Despite the fact that overall leg stiffness depends on a combination of the joint stiffness, it is unclear how the major determinants of leg stiffness are influen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of applied physiology 2011-09, Vol.111 (9), p.2195-2201
Main Authors: Hobara, Hiroaki, Inoue, Koh, Omuro, Kohei, Muraoka, Tetsuro, Kanosue, Kazuyuki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
Adult
Ankle
Ankle Joint - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Data collection
Elasticity - physiology
Exercise Test
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human Physiology
Humans
Kinematics
Kinetics
Knee Joint - physiology
Leg - physiology
Male
Movement - physiology
Muscle function
Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine
Original Article
Range of Motion, Articular - physiology
Sports Medicine
Time Factors
Track & field
Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports
Young Adult
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Summary:Identifying the major determinant of leg stiffness during hopping would be helpful in the development of more effective training methods. Despite the fact that overall leg stiffness depends on a combination of the joint stiffness, it is unclear how the major determinants of leg stiffness are influenced by hopping frequency. The purpose of this study was to identify the major determinant of leg stiffness over a wide range of hopping frequencies. Fourteen well-trained male athletes performed in a place hopping on two legs, at three frequencies (1.5, 2.2 and 3.0 Hz). We determined leg and joint stiffness of the hip, knee and ankle from kinetic and kinematic data. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that knee stiffness could explain more of the variance of leg stiffness than could ankle or hip stiffness at 1.5 Hz hopping. Further, only ankle stiffness was significantly correlated with leg stiffness at both 2.2 and 3.0 Hz, and the standardized regression coefficient of ankle stiffness was higher than that of knee and hip stiffness. The results of the present study suggest that the major determinant of leg stiffness during hopping switches from knee stiffness to ankle stiffness when the hopping frequency is increased.
ISSN:1439-6319
1439-6327
DOI:10.1007/s00421-011-1853-z