Comparison of force-velocity profiles of the leg-extensors for elite athletes in the throwing events relating to gender, age and event

ABSTRACT

Strength capabilities of the leg-extending muscles play an important role in athletic throwing events, where a high momentum must be transferred to the throwing device. The objective of this study was to quantify the force-velocity profiles of the leg-extending muscles considering gender, age and event. The leg-extending forces of 143 elite-athletes (59 females, 84 males) of the athletic throwing events were measured during isokinetic leg press tasks at four speeds. The maxima of force, power and contraction velocity of a knee-extending model muscle could be determined by means of a scalable geometric model and linear fitting. This method makes different groups of athletes comparable. Furthermore, the individually achieved release speeds were measured in a field test. Female and male throwers showed a different development of force-velocity profiles during their maturation process. For the men the development is more speed-oriented. We identified shot putters and javelin throwers to be the athletes with the highest leg-extending power. The importance of leg-extending muscle strength for the complex field performance for the throwing events was confirmed. The presented approach allows to give support in controlling and guiding of leg-extension strength training for both different stages of maturing and varying throwing events.

KEYWORDS:

• Isokinetics
• strength
• power
• leg press

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the German Athletics Association (DLV) for the permission to publish this study. We thank the athletes and coaches for their enthusiastic participation in the annual complex diagnostics at our institute, as well as the team of the biomechanics laboratory of our institute.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The institute at which this study was conducted receives funding by the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany on the basis of a decision of the German Bundestag.