EFFECTS OF SEAT POSITION ON THE JOINT MOMENTS OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES DURING CYCLING IN THE ELDERLY

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The purpose of this study was to quantify the joint moments of the lower extremities with different seat positions during cycling in elderly. Fifteen older adults performed cycling on a self-developed bicycle ergometer at three horizontal and three vertical seat positions. The pedals were instrumented with six-component load cells to measure pedal reaction forces; and a motion capture system was used to measure body segment kinematic data. Both data sets were used to calculate joint moments during a crank cycle. The results showed that seat positions affected joint moments significantly, especially the horizontal positions. A more posterior seat position led to a more balanced loading at the hip and knee, with less peak muscle loadings. The results will be helpful for cycle design and fitting for the elderly.