Analysis of Stair Climbing to Find an Optimum Knee Angle in Order to Reduce the Chances of Leg Muscle Fatigue and Injuries

  • Shehla Inam Riphah International University Islamabad
  • Shehzaib Shafique Department of Biomedical Engineering, Riphah International University, I-14, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Saba Sarfraz Department of Biomedical Engineering, Riphah International University, I-14, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Aamash Nadeem Department of Biomedical Engineering, Riphah International University, I-14, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Faisal Amin Department of Biomedical Engineering, Riphah International University, I-14, Islamabad, Pakistan
Keywords: Leg muscle fatigue/injuries, optimum knee angle, optimum stair height, stair climbing model

Abstract

Stair climbing is one of the unique exercises which is frequently used and helps in maintaining the leg muscles active and healthy. However, if the height of the stair is not optimum, it may cause serious injuries due to increased or decreased knee angle that may damage the human leg muscles such as quadriceps and hamstring involved in its proper function. A stair climbing leg model PASCO ME-7001 was designed to find an optimum knee angle for reducing the maximum chances of leg muscle fatigue and injuries by using the force sensors. Resultant forces applied on leg muscles i.e. hamstring and quadriceps at 4 different average angles: 40º, 57º, 68º, and 76º for four different stair heights: 3", 5", 7", and 9" respectively were studied graphically during ascending stairs. Also, the energy consumption of quadriceps is calculated for the desired 4 average angles. The optimum knee angle maybe 57-68 degrees at 5"-7" stair height for both flexion and extension of the leg during stair climbing.

Published
2020-12-17
How to Cite
[1]
S. Inam, S. Shafique, S. Sarfraz, A. Nadeem, and F. Amin, “Analysis of Stair Climbing to Find an Optimum Knee Angle in Order to Reduce the Chances of Leg Muscle Fatigue and Injuries”, PakJET, vol. 3, no. 03, pp. 51-55, Dec. 2020.