Figure 2. Body motion in the H-squat (left) and the regular squat (right). Body segments include the lumbar spine, the thigh segment, the lower leg and the foot. The arrows indicate movement direction.
The H-squat cycle consisted of an extension phase followed by an flexion phase. The extension phase starts with the knee in full flexion and ends when the knee is fully extended. The flexion phase begins with the knee fully extended and ends with the knee fully flexed. The entire cycle lasted 8.12 seconds. The extension phase lasted 51% of the cycle (4.16 sec), and the flexion phase occupied 49% of the cycle (3.96 sec). The reversal point of the cycle is when the knee was in full extension. In both the downward and upward movement the knee flexed for a longer period of time then the hip. The difference in the time from hip extension to hip flexion is due to a pause in the movement which produced a plateau in the data (Figure 5b).
The regular squat cycle is also composed of an extension and flexion phase. The movement time of the regular squat (3.33 sec) was much less then that of the H-squat. The extension phase begins with the knee fully flexed and ends with the knee fully extended. The flexion phase occupied 58% of the cycle (1.95 sec), and the extension phase occupied 40% of the cycle (1.32 sec). The reversal point of the cycle was when the knee was fully flexed.
The H-squat movement began with the subject supine with knees and hips in full flexion with their feet placed on the weight platform. The subject then pushed the platform horizontally until the hip and knee were fully extended. After a short pause, the subject then returned the platform to its original position by flexing the hip and knee. In the regular squat, the movement began with the subject standing with both the knees and hip fully extended. The subject then flexed the knees and hips lowering the buttocks toward the floor until the knees were flexed near 80 degrees. The subject then returned to the standing position by extending the knee and hip.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Figure 2. Body motion in the H-squat (left) and the regular squat (right). Body segments include the lumbar spine, the thigh segment, the lower leg and the foot. The arrows indicate movement direction. | |