The BOHM lab attended the annual American Society of Biomechanics (ASB) conference which was held in Boulder, CO this year. PhD student Annemarie Laudanski and PhD candidate David Kingston both had poster presentations.
Annemarie presented data on the activity of thigh musculature during high knee flexion activities. The main finding from her work was that squatting postures-specifically flatfooted squatting-elicit the largest activation of rectus femoris activation during all measured postures. This finding could help rehabilitative efforts and highlights the role knee extensors have in performing these movements.
David presented finalized results from his first thesis study regarding thigh-calf contact force during kneeling and squatting in 6 high knee flexdion postures. He has found that when your ankle is in dorsiflexion and you kneel on a single leg force transfer between the thigh and shank is highest at 186.76N ± 98.20. These findings suggest that modeling efforts which estimate joint compressive forces between the femur and tibia need to account for the 'unloading' effect such force couples would cause.
Feel free to review all submitted abstracts from the conference website for other works presented!