[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the speed of squat exercises on paretic lower extremity muscle activity in patients with hemiplegia following a stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Ten stroke patients performed fast and slow squat exercises for 2 seconds and 8 seconds, respectively. The muscle activities of the paretic and non-paretic sides of the rectus femoris ...

Many individuals involved in the sport of powerlifting believe that the squat and deadlift have such similar lifting characteristics that the lifts yield comparable training results. The aim of this study was to compare and contrast biomechanical parameters between the conventional style deadlift and the back squat performed by 25 lifters competing in regional powerlifting championship. The 3-d...

The strength and stability of the knee plays an integral role in athletics and activities of daily living. A better understanding of knee joint biomechanics while performing variations of the squat would be useful in rehabilitation and exercise prescription. We quantified and compared tibiofemoral joint kinetics as well as muscle activity while executing front and back squats. Because of the in...

The purpose of this study is to develop a prediction equation for (performance variables) vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard sprint time, and pro-agility shuttle time using body mass and 1-RM values of strength for bench press and back squat. Participants (n = 76) used in the study were members of the University of South Florida D-1 football team in fall of 2009. Squat/BM demonstrated the stron...

[Purpose] This study compared the hamstring/quadriceps ratio in females during squat exercise using various foot wedges. [Subjects and Methods] Nine females participated in this study. Surface electrodes measurements were taken over the hamstring and quadriceps under 3 squat exercise conditions, and the hamstring/quadriceps ratio was calculated. [Results] The hamstring/quadriceps ratio was sign...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of performing squat exercises with visual feedback on the activation of the vastus medialis oblique (VMO) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles in young adults with an increased quadriceps angle (Q-angle). [Subjects] This study used a motion analysis program (Dartfish, Switzerland) to select 20 young adults with an increased Q-angle, w...

BACKGROUND Hip and knee muscle weaknesses have been associated with the onset of anterior knee pain (AKP). Therefore, the understanding of how squats exercises can be performed in order to optimize the electrical activity of these muscles is relevant for physical therapy treatments. OBJECTIVE To compare the electromyographic activity of patella and pelvic stabilizers during traditional squat ...

The Smith machine (SM) (vertical motion of bar on fixed path; fixed-form exercise) and free weights (FWs) (free-form path) are commonly used strength training modes. Exercisers may need to alternate between types of equipment, depending on testing, training, rehabilitation, and/or the exercisers' goals. The purposes of this study were to compare muscle force production for SM and FWs using a 1 ...

Three dimensional (3-D) motion capture systems are used by researchers and clinicians to analyze the kinematics of human movement. Traditional marker based systems are time consuming and limit the size of studies. Markerless 3-D systems are quicker to use but the differences between data captured in each system is unclear. AIM To examine the relationship of kinematic data captured by marker b...

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to compare hamstring-to-quadriceps ratio between the accelerating and decelerating sections for anterior cruciate ligament protection during squat exercise. [Subjects and Methods] Nine asymptomatic males were enrolled in this study. The hamstring (medial part) and quadriceps (rectus femoris) muscle activities during squat exercise were measured, and the squat...