ENERGETICS OF LOWER EXTREMITY MOVEMENTS PREDICTED USING AN EMG-DRIVEN MUSCLE MODEL

Abstract

An EMG-driven muscle model is described and applied to the analysis of a loaded squat movement, vertical jumping performance, and walking, jogging and running gait. The main findings are: (i) for the up phase of the loaded squat the monoarticular hip and knee extensors account for approximately 80% of the work done by the muscle tendon complexes; (ii) differences in movement amplitude of the whole body centre of gravity between the countermovement jump and the squat jump may be explained by differences in muscle-tendon dynamics; and (iii) the amount of mechanical energy transferred between joints via biarticular muscles during the support phase of gait increases as a function of gait speed.