EFFECTS OF INERTIAL LOAD ON SAGITTAL PLANE KINEMATICS DURING FLYWHEEL-BASED RESISTANCE TRAINING SQUATS

Background: Training to increase muscular power is essential for improving athletic performance in most sports. Weight training (WT) is a common means for training muscular power. Another modality, flywheel resistance training (FRT), may be superior for improving muscular power. However, few studies have examined if FRT is kinematically similar to WT, or if FRT kinematics change with increasing inertial load. The purposes of this study were to determine how sagittal plane joint kinematics are affected by increasing inertial load during FRT squats, and to determine how FRT squat joint kinematics compare to WT squat joint kinematics. Methods: Subjects (n=9) completed three visits for this study. On the first visit subjects completed squat 1 repetition maximum (1RM) testing. The second visit served as a full FRT familiarization session in which subjects performed one set of 5 maximal effort FRT squats at each inertial load (0.050, 0.075, and 0.100 kgm2). On the third visit, subjects were videoed in the sagittal plane while performing the FRT squat protocol. Subjects then completed 5 maximal velocity repetitions of WT squats with the barbell loaded according to the Kansas Squat Test (KST) protocol. Kinematic differences between inertial loads were determined via 1-way repeated measures ANOVAS while differences between FRT and WT were determined with paired T-tests. Results: There were no differences in peak sagittal plane knee, trunk-hip, trunk (absolute) or ankle angles between inertial loads. Peak and mean joint angular velocities decreased with increasing inertial loads at the knee and trunk-hip. Mean joint angular velocities decreased at the ankle with increasing inertial loads, while peak and mean trunk (absolute) angular velocities were unaffected. No statistical analyses were conducted for FRT and WT comparison as not enough subjects met the criteria (n=3). Conclusions: Sagittal plane joint kinematics are largely maintained despite increasing inertial load during FRT squats. Lower extremity joint angular velocities decreased with increasing inertial load. If training for muscular power and knee extensor velocity is the goal, then the inertia of 0.050 kgm2 is most suitable