G J Novak | PubMed Health

PubMed1993

The effects of quadriceps fatigue on the technique of lifting.

A biomechanical analysis was performed of lifting before and after fatiguing the quadriceps muscles. The hypothesis tested was that when the quadriceps muscles were fatigued the lifter would change lifting technique from more of a squat (leg) lift to more of a stoop (back) lift to decrease the demand on the quadriceps muscles. The hypothesis was broadly supported, and three variables changed significantly with fatigue: trunk angular velocity, which increased, and knee moment integral and hip angles, which both decreased. These changes are all consistent with a change from more of a squat toward a stoop technique. The fact that the technique of lifting changes with quadriceps muscle fatigue underlines the importance of the physiologic condition of these muscles and suggests that rehabilitation of low-back-injured workers should include the quadriceps muscles. The amount of work performed should be controlled to avoid the development of local muscle fatigue and subsequent changes in performance.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Trunk muscle geometry and centroid location when twisting.

The trunk muscles of the lumbar region were studied using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in five male volunteers placed in neutral and in two twisted postures. Using a CAD digitizing system, the positions of trunk muscle centroids and the cross-sectional areas of these muscles were measured from the transverse scans at 1 cm intervals from L2 to S1. Muscle lines of action were created by connecting the muscle centroids from the successive sections. Changes in cross-sectional areas and displacements of centroids in a three-dimensional coordinate system and the local two-dimensional coordinate system were estimated at each disc level. In the three-dimensional coordinate system, all muscle centroids were displaced when twisting. Thus, the locations and orientations of all muscle lines of action changed. In the local two-dimensional coordinate system, only the muscle centroids of four abdominal muscles were displaced. Most of these displacements occurred in the first 25 degrees of twisting. Higher up in the lumbar spine, the displacement was greater. The changes in moment arms were sometimes as great as twofold. Only the abdominal oblique muscles (AOM) changed their cross-sectional area significantly; the area of the right AOM ipsilateral to the side of twisting increased, while that of the left AOM was decreased.

Abdominal Muscles↗