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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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GENDER SPECIFIC STRATEGIES IN DEMANDING HOPPING CONDITIONS |
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İlkşan Demirbüken1  ,
Saadet Ufuk Yurdalan1, Hans Savelberg2 and Kenneth
Meijer2 |
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1School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey 2Department of Human Movement Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2009) 8, 265 - 270 Search Google Scholar for Citing Articles |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Difference in leg stiffness between females and males is considered
to be a cause of higher rates of Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury in female
athletes. Females are believed to have lower stiffness and as a consequence
different recruitment strategies to adapt functional tasks. The aim of the
current study was to evaluate how leg stiffness is tuned to demanding conditions.
22 healthy subjects (11 Male-11 Female; age: 20-43 years) participated in
this study. Subjects performed two-legged hopping tasks (at their preferred
rate, as fast as possible and with added mass of 10% bodyweight) on a force
platform. Leg stiffness was calculated for each condition as the ratio between
peak ground reaction force and vertical displacement of center of mass.
In the preferred and added mass conditions males showed substantially higher
leg stiffness than females (p= 0.006 and p = 0.002, respectively). When
hopping as fast as possible the gender bias in leg stiffness disappeared
(p = 0.880). Added mass had no significant effect on change in leg stiffness.
Results have shown that females increased their leg stiffness more than
males indicating they have no gender limiting capacity to reach objectives
of higher demanding tasks (i.e.fastest hopping).The relationship between
observed gender differences in leg stiffness and increased Anterior Cruciate
Ligament injury rate in females requires further study.
Key words: Leg stiffness, frequency, added mass, hopping test. |
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