Frequency and leg stiffness adaptation in human vertical hopping before, during and after added load.

ABSTRACT: Terrestrial animal gaits often use spring-like mechanics to enhance movement economy through elastic energy cycling. Hopping is a relatively simple, constrained task, yet retains essential features of bouncing gaits, requiring cyclic regulation of limb stiffness and generation of high muscle forces to support body weight and enable elastic energy cycling. We investigated how humans adjust hopping frequency and leg stiffness before, during and after experiencing added load. Eighteen participants hopped bipedally for 90 s per trial, with hop frequency and height unconstrained, while kinematic, ground reaction force and ankle muscle electromyographic (EMG) data were collected. We analysed mechanics across four conditions: initial body weight (BWi), two added mass trials (+10% and +20% BW) and

SUBMITTER: Jessup LN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12752494 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature