Lower limb flexion posture relates to energy absorption during drop landings with soldier-relevant body borne loads.
Fifteen military personnel performed 30-cm drop landings to quantify how body borne load (light, ∼6 kg, medium, ∼20 kg, and heavy, ∼40 kg) impacts lower limb kinematics and knee joint energy absorption during landing, and determine whether greater lower limb flexion increases energy absorption while landing with load. Participants decreased peak hip (P = 0.002), and knee flexion (P = 0.007) posture, but did not increase hip (P = 0.796), knee (P = 0.427) or ankle (P = 0.161) energy absorption, despite exhibiting greater peak hip (P = 0.003) and knee (P = 0.001) flexion, and ankle (P = 0.003) dorsiflexion angular impulse when landing with additional load. Yet, when landing with the light and medium loads, greater hip (R(2) = 0.500, P = 0.003 and R(2) = 0.314, P = 0.030) and knee (R(2) = 0.431, P = 0.008 and R(2) = 0.342, P = 0.022) flexion posture predicted larger knee joint energy absorption. Thus, military training that promotes hip and knee flexion, and subsequently greater energy absorption during landing, may potentially reduce risk of musculoskeletal injury and optimize soldier performance.
['Brown|T N|TN|', "O'Donovan|M|M|", 'Hasselquist|L|L|', 'Corner|B|B|', 'Schiffman|J M|JM|']
D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena D006621:Hip Joint D006801:Humans D007719:Knee Joint D007866:Leg D008297:Male D008889:Military Personnel D009068:Movement D011187:Posture D016474:Weight-Bearing D055815:Young Adult
Energy absorption Kinematics Impact force Kinetics