Impact of Quadriceps Muscle Fatigue on Ankle Joint Compensation Strategies During Single-Leg Vertical Jump Landing

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 24; no. 20; p. 6712
• Main Authors: Chen, Chen, Zhou, Huiyu, Xu, Datao, Gao, Xiangli, Xiang, Liangliang, Gu, Yaodong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 18.10.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Ankle; ankle injuries; Ankle Joint - physiology; Basketball; Basketball - physiology; Biomechanical Phenomena - physiology; Biomechanics; Compensation management; compensatory strategies; Data collection; Electromyography; Experiments; Fatigue; Force; Hip Joint - physiology; Humans; Injury prevention; Jumping; Knee; Knee Joint - physiology; landing; lower limb joints; Male; Muscle fatigue; Muscle Fatigue - physiology; Quadriceps Muscle - physiology; Range of Motion, Articular - physiology; Variance analysis; Young Adult; United States > US; fatigue; landing; compensatory strategies; lower limb joints; ankle injuries
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s24206712

This study investigates the impact of quadriceps fatigue on lower limb biomechanics during the landing phase of a single-leg vertical jump (SLJ) in 25 amateur male basketball players from Ningbo University. Fatigue was induced through single-leg knee flexion and extension exercises until task failure. Kinematic and dynamic data were collected pre-fatigue (PRF) and post-fatigue (POF) using the Vicon motion capture system and the AMTI force platform and analyzed using an OpenSim musculoskeletal model. Paired sample -tests revealed significant changes in knee and hip biomechanics under different fatigue conditions, with knee joint angle ( < 0.001), velocity ( = 0.006), moment ( = 0.006), and power ( = 0.036) showing significant alterations. Hip joint angle ( = 0.002), moment ( = 0.033), and power ( < 0.001) also exhibited significant changes. Muscle activation and joint power were significantly higher in the POF condition, while joint stiffness was lower. These findings suggest that quadriceps fatigue leads to biomechanical adjustments in the knee and hip joints, which may increase the risk of injury despite aiding in landing stability.