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Differences in Kinetics, Kinematics and Muscle Activation Strategies in Male and Female Team Sport Athletes During Unanticipated Sidestepping

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare kinetics, kinematics and muscle activation strategies between male and female collegiate level athletes during unanticipated sidestepping tasks to further the understanding of sex-specific differences in injury incidence and their potential influence on ACL injury risk.

Methods

Three-dimensional kinematics, ground reaction forces and surface electromyography of eight lower limb muscles were recorded during unanticipated sidestepping in 20 male soccer and 17 female field hockey National Collegiate Athletics Association Division 1 athletes. Trunk, hip and knee kinematics, knee joint moments, total muscle activation (TMA: knee, gluteal, quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemii) and directed co-contraction ratios (DCCR) were compared between groups with two-sample t tests.

Results

No sex differences were observed for peak frontal and transverse plane knee moments (P > 0.05), however males had 10% greater knee flexion moments (P = 0.047). Females had lower hip flexion and abduction and greater hip internal rotation angles than males likely concomitant with the 30% reduction in gluteal TMA (P < 0.05). Females had lower quadriceps TMA during pre-contact and weight acceptance and higher hamstrings TMA during weight acceptance (P < 0.05). Group averages for DCCR were not representative of individual patterns, where the majority of males were quadriceps dominant compared with females.

Conclusions

Female and male team sport athletes display similar frontal and transverse plane knee moments, however their ability to support/counter the load applied (i.e., muscle activations strategies) to the knee joint differed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

    Gillian Weir, Mirra Stillman, Hannah Wyatt, Carl Jewell & Joseph Hamill

  2. Motor Control Laboratory, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

    Richard van Emmerik

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  1. Gillian Weir
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Correspondence to Gillian Weir.

Electronic supplementary material

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42978_2019_19_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary Fig. 1. Individual mean and standard deviations for externally applied peak knee flexion (a), valgus (b) and internal rotation (c) moments during unanticipated sidestepping for males (black) and females (grey). Lines represent average for males (black) and females (grey). (TIFF 833 kb)

42978_2019_19_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary Fig. 2. Individual mean and standard deviations for peak sagittal, frontal and transverse plane trunk (a-c), hip (d-f) and knee angles (h & i) during stance and knee flexion angle at foot strike (g) for males (black) and females (grey). Lines represent average for males (black) and females (grey). (TIFF 1154 kb)

42978_2019_19_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Supplementary Fig. 3. Individual mean and standard deviations for total muscle activation of muscle groups crossing the knee and hip during pre-contact (50 ms prior to foot-strike), and weight acceptance for males (black) and females (grey). Lines represent average for males (black) and females (grey). (TIFF 991 kb)

42978_2019_19_MOESM4_ESM.tif

Supplementary Fig. 4. Individual mean and standard deviations for directed co-contraction ratio (DCCR) of the quadriceps and hamstrings during pre-contact (50 ms prior to foot-strike) (a), and weight acceptance (b) for males (black) and females (grey). Lines represent average for males (black) and females (grey). A DCCR > 0 indicates co-contraction is directed toward the hamstrings, DCCR < 0 indicates co-contraction is directed toward the quadriceps and DCCR = 0 indicates maximal co-contraction. (TIFF 639 kb)

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Weir, G., Stillman, M., van Emmerik, R. et al. Differences in Kinetics, Kinematics and Muscle Activation Strategies in Male and Female Team Sport Athletes During Unanticipated Sidestepping. J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE 1, 159–167 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-019-0019-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42978-019-0019-2

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