Search results for "Locomotion"
showing 10 items of 201 documents
In vivo fascicle behavior of the flexor hallucis longus muscle at different walking speeds.
2017
Ankle plantar flexor muscles support and propel the body in the stance phase of locomotion. Besides the triceps surae, flexor hallucis longus muscle (FHL) may also contribute to this role, but very few in vivo studies have examined FHL function during walking. Here, we investigated FHL fascicle behavior at different walking speeds. Ten healthy males walked overground at three different speeds while FHL fascicle length changes were recorded with ultrasound and muscle activity was recorded with surface electromyography (EMG). Fascicle length at heel strike at toe off and at peak EMG activity did not change with speed. Range of FHL fascicle length change (3.5-4.5 and 1.9-2.9 mm on average in s…
Postural Control Mechanisms in Healthy Adults in Sitting and Standing Positions
2015
This study explored differences in the center of pressure in healthy people in a sitting and standing position and with eyes open and closed. With this purpose, 32 healthy participants (16 men, 16 women; M age = 25.2 yr., SD = 10.0, range = 18–55) were measured with an extensiometric force plate. Using a two–way repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), the root mean square, velocity, range, and sway, in both visual conditions, had higher values in the standing task than in the sitting task. In the frequency domain, the low-frequency band had higher values during the standing task. For control mechanism variables, mean distance and time were greater when standing while …
Isokinetic strength and anaerobic power of elite, subelite and amateur French soccer players.
2001
Information about the influence of different practice levels on physical characteristics of a large number of soccer players is lacking. Therefore we assessed muscular strength and anaerobic power of elite, subelite and amateur soccer players to clarify what parameters distinguish the top players from the less successful. We tested 95 soccer players from the French first division (elite), second division (subelite), and amateurs and determined the isokinetic strength of the knee extensor and flexor muscles at angular velocities from -120 degrees x s(-1) to 300 degrees x s(-1). Vertical jump, 10 m sprint, 30 m sprint and maximum ball speed during shooting were also measured. The elite player…
Gait-dependent motor memory facilitation in covert movement execution
2004
In the current study, we examined whether sensorimotor information stored in short-term memory may influence the temporal features between overt and covert execution of human locomotor movements and, furthermore, to examine to what extent such influence may depend on the ongoing gait activity. The subjects (n=20) who participated in the experiment were separated in two groups and instructed to walk (overt execution) or imagine walking (covert execution) along three locomotor paths: horizontal, uphill and downhill. The subjects of the first group, labeled in block, performed all the covert trials before executing the corresponding overt trials, while the subjects of the second group, labeled…
Afferent contribution to locomotor muscle activity during unconstrained overground human walking:an analysis of triceps surae muscle fascicles
2010
Plantar flexor series elasticity can be used to dissociate muscle–fascicle and muscle–tendon behavior and thus afferent feedback during human walking. We used electromyography (EMG) and high-speed ultrasonography concomitantly to monitor muscle activity and muscle fascicle behavior in 19 healthy volunteers as they walked across a platform. On random trials, the platform was dropped (8 cm, 0.9 g acceleration) or held at a small inclination (up to ±3° in the parasagittal plane) with respect to level ground. Dropping the platform in the mid and late phases of stance produced a depression in the soleus muscle activity with an onset latency of about 50 ms. The reduction in ground reaction force…
The mechanical efficiency of locomotion in men and women with special emphasis on stretch-shortening cycle exercises.
1986
The mechanical efficiency of the leg extensor musculature of men and women was examined with a special "sledge ergometer". The subjects (ten males and ten females) performed pure positive work, pure negative work and a combination of negative and positive work (stretch-shortening cycle). The mechanical efficiency of pure positive work was on average 19.8 +/- 1.2% for female subjects and 17.4 +/- 1.2% for male subjects (t = 4.12, P less than 0.001), although the work intensity was equal in both groups. The mechanical efficiency of pure negative work was slightly lower in women than in men (59.3 +/- 14.4% vs 75.6 +/- 29.3%). The mechanical efficiency of positive work (eta +) in a stretch-shor…
Do equilibrium constraints modulate postural reaction when viewing imbalance?
2011
Abstract Action observation and action execution are tightly coupled on a neurophysiological and a behavioral level, such that visually perceiving an action can contaminate simultaneous and subsequent action execution. More specifically, observing a model in postural disequilibrium was shown to induce an increase in observers’ body sway. Here we reciprocally questioned the role of observers’ motor system in the contagion process by comparing participants’ body sway when watching displays of antero-posterior vs. lateral imbalance. Indeed, during upright standing, biomechanical constraints differ along the antero-posterior (A-P) and medio-lateral (M-L) axes; hence an impact of observers’ post…
Elderly adults delay proprioceptive reweighting during the anticipation of collision avoidance when standing.
2012
The ability to reweight visual and proprioceptive information is critical for maintaining postural stability in a dynamic environment. In this study, we examined whether visual anticipation of collision avoidance (AV) while standing could facilitate the down-weighting of altered proprioception in young and elderly adults. Twelve young (24.91 ± 6.44 years) and 12 elderly (74.8 ± 6.42 years) participants stood upright for 180 s under two task conditions: (a) quiet stance (QS) and (b) standing while anticipating virtual objects to be avoided. In order to disrupt the accuracy of proprioceptive input participants were exposed to bilateral Achilles tendon vibration during the middle 60 s of stand…
Individual Region- and Muscle-specific Hamstring Activity at Different Running Speeds
2019
Introduction \ud Hamstring strain injuries typically occur in the proximal biceps femoris long head (BFlh) at high running speeds. Strain magnitude seems to be the primary determinant of strain injury, and may be regulated by muscle activation. In running, BFlh strain is largest in the proximal region, especially at high speeds. However, region-specific activity has not been examined. This study examined the proximal–distal and intermuscular activity of BFlh and semitendinosus (ST) as a function of increasing running speed.\ud \ud Methods \ud Thirteen participants ran at steady speeds of 4.1 (slow), 5.4 (moderate), and 6.8 m·s−1 (fast) on a treadmill. Region- and muscle-specific EMG activit…
Biomechanical Loading of Achilles Tendon During Normal Locomotion
1992
Direct in vivo Achilles tendon force measurements open up new possibilities for understanding the loading of the Achilles tendon during natural locomotion. This article describes how these human experiments can be performed. The results of these experiments imply that Achilles tendon forces are unexpectedly high in certain activities (e.g., hopping) and that the rates of loading rather than the absolute magnitudes of the recorded forces may be more relevant for clinical purposes as well as for the construction of artificial tendon materials.