Posts filed under ‘Ortho’
Biomechanics of Bicep Curls
Another dry report compiled for my Ortho class, again may be interesting to some.
Every day, thousands of American men in gyms across the country perform biceps curls in the mirror. This exercise, commonly referred to as “curls for the girls†is a staple of the modern male resistance training routine. The widespread proliferation of this movement necessitates a deep understanding of the implications on the human body; namely, the forces sustained by the elbow joint and produced by the surrounding muscles in the execution of the movement.
April 23, 2011
Biomechanics of Lower Back Engagement in Lifting
This one is a little dry, so feel free to skip to the conclusions. It started as a report for the Orthopaedic Biomechanics class I’m taking. It’s nothing revolutionary in the field (not even close), but I thought you all might be interested in reading it nonetheless.
While the lifting of heavy objects is daily routine for a smaller share of us than our hunter-gatherer ancestors, it can be said with certainty that each of us will eventually lift something of substantial weight. We know that poor form can result in injury – everyone has been told to bend at the knees with a straight back – but what magnitudes of forces are sustained by our bodies in these movements? Is it beneficial to bend at the knees?
Today we’ll examine the forces exerted by the back extensor muscle (lower back) and supported by the spine during heavy lifting. The movement examined is a straight-leg back extension carrying a 50lb weight with relaxed arms.
2 comments April 18, 2011
Movement for Osteoarthritis and More
I’m taking an Orthopaedic Biomechanics class right now, so expect some fun stuff on bones and joints over the next few months.
This morning the professor read us a few excerpts from yesterday’s WSJ article on osteoarthritis treatment, and I’d like to do the same here. I’m not going to get scientifically in-depth today, I’ll just give a few thoughts.
The main premise of the article is that an increasing number of health care providers are recommending movement as a treatment for osteoarthritis. Read on for quotes and discussion.
April 13, 2011
What’s Being Said