BIOMECHANICS IMPORTANT VSAQS BY MPMEP

1.Standard International (SI) unit – SI units are the units

that are used as defaults when measuring time, distance,
or mass. They are part of what is called the International
System of Units. The SI units for time, distance, and mass
are seconds (s), meters (m) and kilograms (kg),
respectively.

2.International System of Units – when using SI units for

time, distance, and mass in formulae, the resulting values
are automatically put into their respective SI units. For
example, calculating force as mass multiplied by
acceleration (F = ma), if we use mass in kilograms and
acceleration in meters per second per second, then we
find force in kg/m/s/s but this is also correct when
expressed in Newtons (N) as well.

3.Peak – the peak value of any measurement is the point

with the greatest magnitude in a data set. Peak values are
often seen in biomechanics, such as when measuring joint
angles (the maximum joint angle reached) or muscle
activity (the greatest level of electromyography recorded).

4.Mean – the mean value of any measurement is an

average of a data set and is calculated by taking the sum
of all the values and dividing this number by the number of
values. Mean values are also commonly used in
biomechanics, such as when measuring joint moments
(the mean joint moment during the concentric phase of an
exercise) or electromyographic (EMG) activity (the average
level of the EMG amplitude recorded during the concentric
phase of an exercise.

5.Vector – a vector is a quantity that has a direction as well

as a magnitude. Vectors often have scalar equivalents. For
example, velocity is a vector because it refers to the rate of
change of position in a given direction. Speed is a scalar
because it only refers to the magnitude of the velocity and
not the direction.

6.Scalar – a scalar is a quantity that has no direction but

only a magnitude.

7.Component – components of vectors are used to help

make calculations of vectors easier. Every vector in
mechanics or biomechanics can be broken down into 3
orthogonal components, which are labelled as x, y, and z.
Orthogonal means that each component acts at right
angles to the others. In biomechanics, these three
orthogonal components refer to the frontal, sagittal and
transverse planes, respectively.

8.Resultant – the resultant vector is the vector calculated

when summing together other vectors, often in the form of
components but also in the form of two or more vectors
acting in different directions on the same object. For
example, during running, there are forces acting both
vertically and horizontally and also both forwards
(propulsive) and backwards (braking) but ultimately there
is a resultant force that moves the runner forwards.

9.Net – like the resultant vector, the net vector is the vector
calculated when summing together two or more other
vectors. This commonly happens at joints, where there are
multiple joint moments acting in different directions from
various sources, which sum together to produce a net joint
moment.

10.Absolute – absolute most commonly means that the

value being reported is not being expressed relative to
bodyweight.

11.Relative – relative most commonly means expressing

another biomechanical value in relation to bodyweight. It
can be calculated by dividing a value by the bodyweight of
the subjects. Where mean relative values are presented,
such as joint moments, these can be converted to absolute
values by multiplying the relative value by the mean
bodyweight of the subjects in the study.

12.Active – active refers to circumstances in human

movement where movements or moments are produced
by muscle forces that are generated by muscle
contractions following from muscle activity.

13.Passive – passive refers to circumstances in human

movement where movements or moments are produced
by muscle forces that are not generated by muscle
contractions following from muscle activity but are instead
are generated by the elastic properties of the muscle fibers
themselves, as well as of the ligaments, bones, tendons,
and fascia.
14.Types of movement directions
Anterior – situated on or closer to the front aspect of the
body.

Posterior – situated on or closer to the rear aspect of the

body.
Superior – situated on or closer to the top of the body.

Inferior – situated on or closer to the underneath of the

body.

Distal – situated further away from the center of the body.

Proximal – situated closer towards the center of the body.

Medial – situated further from the sides of the body, or

closer to the midline of the body.

Lateral – situated closer to the sides of the body, or away

from the midline of the body

15.Muscle architecture – Muscle architecture is the

organization of the muscle fibers within the muscle relative
to the line of force generation. It comprises three main
aspects: normalized fiber length, pennation angle, and
physiological cross-sectional area.

16.Anatomical cross-sectional area – the area of the cross

section of a muscle perpendicular to its longitudinal axis.
17.Physiological cross-sectional area – the area of the
cross section of a muscle perpendicular to the direction of
its fibers, generally at its largest point.

18.Pennation angle – this is the angle between the line of

muscle fiber alignment and the longitudinal axis of the
muscle.

19.Fascicle length – the length of an individual muscle

fascicle, where a muscle fascicle is a bundle of muscle
fibers

20.Fiber length – the length of an individual muscle fiber,

noting that an individual muscle fiber does not generally
run the entire length of a muscle fascicle

21.Normalized fiber length – the length of an individual

muscle fiber, normalized for its average sarcomere length.

22.Regional hypertrophy – this is the non-uniform increase

in cross-sectional area along the length or across the
breadth of a muscle.

23.Force and moments are kinetic variables. Force in

biomechanics is usually exerted either by muscles acting
on joints or by heavy external objects (like barbells or the
ground) acting on the human body. Kinetics falls into two
very clear categories: linear and angular. Linear kinetics
are usually those associated with overall forces exerted
upon an athlete (like ground reaction forces during
jumping) and angular kinetics are those associated with
the turning forces at specific joints.

24.LINEAR KINETICS
Force – force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma) and
where mass (kg) and acceleration (m/s/s) are expressed in
standard international (SI) units, force is automatically
expressed in Newtons (N).

25.Ground reaction force – When you jump, sprint, or

perform an Olympic lift, you exert force into the ground.
Force-plates measure these forces. During vertical
jumping, most of the force produced is vertical. However,
in sprinting, you have vertical forces as well as horizontal
forces. When the foot strikes the ground during maximum
speed sprinting, at first the force is projected forward which
is called braking forces, and once the COM passes over
the foot, the force is projected rearward which is called
propulsive forces.
26.Muscle force – when muscles contract or are stretched,
they create muscle force. This muscle force pulls on bones
which creates joint torque. In general, force, including
muscle force, is measured in Newtons.

27.Rate of force development (RFD) – RFD is the rate of

change of force over time, expressed as N/s.

28.Impulse – impulse is force multiplied by time over which

the force acts, expressed as Ns.

29.Work – work is force multiplied by the distance moved

as a result of the force acting, expressed in Joules (J).

30.Power – power is the rate at which work is done, and

can be calculated either by dividing the work done by the
time in which the work was done or by multiplying the force
applied by the velocity at which it was applied, expressed
in Watts (W).

31.Momentum – momentum is mass multiplied by velocity,

expressed in kg m/s.

32.Variable resistance – variable external resistance is a

form of external resistance that changes throughout the
movement. This can be achieved in practice using bands
and chains in combination with barbells or by using
machine weights with cam devices.

32.Isokinetic resistance – isokinetic external resistance is a

form of variable resistance that maintains the velocity of
the movement constant irrespective of the force applied. It
is only achievable in practice using a dynamometer.

33.Accommodating resistance – strictly, accommodating

resistance is the same as isokinetic resistance, where the
load “accommodates” the force applied by the subject so
that velocity remains constant throughout the movement.
In practice, the term “accommodating resistance” is often
used to refer to bands and chains, which are a form of
variable resistance that approximate isokinetic external
resistance.

34.Isoinertial resistance – isoinertial external resistance is

any external resistance that remains constant throughout
the movement. Most typical free weight exercises are
isoinertial, as the mass or load do not change during the
exercise.

35.ANGULAR KINETICS
Joint moment – a moment is the turning effect produced by
a force. It is often synonymous with torque, which can be
though of as the rotational analog to linear force (turning
force), and is calculated by multiplying the perpendicular
force by the distance from the pivot (or axis of rotation).

36.External joint moments – Resistance in strength training

produces an external moment, whereas

37.Internal joint moments – muscles produce an internal

moment to counteract the external moment. Moments are
usually measured in Newton-meters.

38.Joint power – it is possible to measure the power output

of individual joints during movement by multiplying the
torque by the joint angular velocity. It is usually reported in
Newton-meters per second.

39.Rate of torque development (RTD) – and is usually

measured in Newton-meters per second

40.Movement and position are called kinematic variables.

Kinematics also falls into two very clear categories: linear
and angular. Linear kinematics are usually those
associated with overall movement of an athlete (like
running velocity or jumping height) and angular kinematics
are those associated with the movement of specific joints.

41.LINEAR KINEMATICS
Displacement – displacement is a change in position of an
object. Jumping height is an example of a displacement
that is often measured in biomechanics.

42.Ground contact time – ground contact times are the

durations of time in which feet are in contact with the
ground during athletic movements, such as drop jumps or
sprint running. Sprint running displays some of the shortest
ground contact times, which are around 0.1 seconds,
which does not allow much time for the athletes to exert
force to propel themselves forwards.

43.Flight time – flight times are the durations of time in

which an athlete is not in contact with the ground during
athletic movements, such as during vertical jumps or sprint
running. During vertical jumps, flight time can be used to
estimate jump height by using Newton’s laws of motion.

44.Velocity – velocity is the rate of change of position of an

athlete (in m/s), which is the displacement divided by time.
It is a vector quantity (meaning that it has a direction
associated with it) and speed is its scalar equivalent.

45.Acceleration – acceleration is the rate of change of

velocity of an athlete (in m/s/s), which is the change in
velocity divided by time. It is also vector quantity (meaning
that it has a direction associated with it) and is proportional
to both the external force exerted upon it and its mass.

46.ANGULAR KINEMATICS
Concentric – concentric muscle actions occur when
muscles shorten under tension, leading to changes in joint
position.

47.Eccentric – eccentric muscle actions occur when

muscles lengthen under tension, leading to changes in
joint position.

48.Isometric – isometric muscle actions occur when no

movement in the joint take place. The muscle does shorten
and the tendon does lengthen but this does not alter joint
position.

49.Range of motion (ROM) – the displacement in angular

movement is generally measured by reference to ROM,
which can be reported in either degrees or radians (rad).
50.Center of mass (COM) – the center of mass is the
unique point within an object where the weighted relative
position of the distributed mass of the object sums to zero.
In biomechanics, it is common to assume that an object
behaves as if it were a point mass located at the COM
rather than a distributed mass, for ease of calculations.

51.Joint angular velocity – joint angular velocity is the rate

of change of joint ROM, which is therefore measured in
degrees/s or rad/s.

52.Force-velocity relationship – the force velocity

relationship describes the interaction between velocity and
force during muscle actions. It can be applied to single
muscle fibers, individual muscles, single joint movements,
and multi-joint movements, although it is not exactly the
same in each. The force-velocity relationship is an inverse
relationship, with force reducing as velocity increases and
vice versa.

53.Length-tension relationship – the length-tension

relationship describes how muscle force alters with
changing muscle length. It is a composite of the active and
passive length-tension relationships.
54.Active length-tension relationship – the active length-
tension relationship describes how muscle force alters with
changing muscle length when the passive length-tension
relationship is excluded. It is thought to arise because of
the actin-myosin interactions at different sarcomere
lengths. It therefore rises to a peak where the overlap
between the actin and myosin filaments is optimal and
then declines again.

55.Passive length-tension relationship – the passive

length-tension relationship describes how muscle force
alters with changing muscle length when the active length-
tension relationship is excluded. It is thought to arise
because of the steadily increasing passive forces exerted
when the actin-myosin filaments are extended elastically
beyond their optimal operating range. It is therefore very
low until a certain point is reached, and then rises
dramatically.

56.Moment-angle relationship – the moment-angle or

torque angle relationship describes how a joint moment
alters with changing joint angle. It is thought to be
determined by a range of other factors, including the
length-tension relationship, the moment arm-angle
relationship, and the activation-angle relationship.

57.Moment arm-angle relationship – the moment arm-

angle relationship is way in which a muscle moment arm
about a joint changes with changing joint angle.

58.Muscle activation-angle relationship – the muscle

activation-angle relationship is way in which the EMG
amplitude measured within a muscle changes with
changing joint angle.

59.Stiffness – stiffness is the extent to which an object

resists deformation in response to an applied external
force, measured in N/m.

60.Compliance – compliance is the opposite of stiffness.

The more compliant the object, the easier it is to deform.