An investigation of the biomechanics of knee extension in trained and untrained subjects

Contemporary sportsmen and sportswomen require high standards of performance and the promise of continuous developments. The study and application of biomechanics to sport offers one way of improving performance. It is particularly important to understand the mechanical properties of skeletal muscle and how training might change these. The most fundamental studies of these properties have used laboratory animals and subsequent work has extended the understanding of human muscle. The results reported in this thesis came from experiments, which investigated the maximal knee extension torque and the maximum knee extension velocity in a group of normal young humans. The scientific literature contains many reports of training studies. These use a wide range of protocols and most report the maximum forces produced before and after training. Rather few reports of changes in maximum velocity can be found. The aim of the experiments was to investigate both force and velocity changes since they both contribute to muscle power. Two series of experiments were performed. The first was a training study to which 25 young adult subjects were recruited. Seven subjects were withdrew and 18 (10 females, 8 males) completed a six week training programme. Measurements of isometric torque and isokinetic torque during knee joint extension were performed at intervals of two weeks. The training produced statistically significant increases in mean isometric torque at all angles tested. At 7