Background. Mechanical relation between the foot and pelvic alignment had been studied in healthy subjects and individuals with other musculoskeletal disorders; however, in chronic ankle instability (CAI), it has not yet been determined. Objectives. To investigate the difference in pelvic torsion (PT) among individuals with CAI and uninjured subjects and correlate PT with perceived ankle insta...

Residual hip impairments, such as decreased hip muscle moment and power during walking, have been reported in patients with total hip arthroplasty (THA). Meanwhile, greater ankle power has also been reported in these patients. We investigated the interaction between hip and ankle joints during walking to determine the effects of different ankle pushoff instructions on hip biomechanics in patien...

The purpose of this study was to examine the modulating effects of age on lower limb stiffness and net muscle joint activity degeneration when performing a functional activity involving SSC. Seven young males and seven older males were recruited as subjects for this study. A high-speed camera and a force plate were synchronized to collect the biomechanical parameters. The kinetic parameters wer...

BACKGROUND Falls have been strongly associated with decreased physical activity and impaired mobility. Reduced range of motion, as a consequence of muscle stiffness, has been indicated to assume a positive relationship to fall incidence. Also clinical observations suggest that maintaining the normal spinal curves is associated with the prevention of spinal, knee and hip disorders. Thus, the aim...

BACKGROUND Functional reach (FR) is a clinical measure of balance. The Alexander Technique (AT) is a nonexercise approach to the improvement of body mechanics. This study investigated a possible relationship between FR performance and AT instruction. METHODS Three groups comprised of women older than 65, with the exception of one male control, were studied: (i) a pilot group, and (ii) experim...

Postural and gait instabilities in astronauts returning from spaceflight are thought to result from in-flight adaptation of central nervous system processing of sensory inputs from the vestibular, proprioceptive, and visual systems. We hypothesized that reorganization of posture control relying on these multiple inputs would result in not only greater amounts of sway, but also changes in interj...

PURPOSE The purpose of the study was to investigate changes in lower extremity joint energy absorption for different landing heights and landing techniques. METHODS Nine healthy, active male subjects volunteered to perform step-off landings from three different heights (0.32 m, 2.5 m(-s); 0.62 m, 3.5 m(-s); and 1.03 m, 4.5 m(-s)) using three different landing techniques (soft, SFL; normal, NM...