Glossary 2

ACL: Anterior cruciate ligament. It is a band of dense connective tissue which courses
from the femur to the tibia. It is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize de knee
joint.

CMJ: Countermovement Jump. It is a vertical jump test performed by having an athlete

quickly squat to a self-selected depth and then jump as high as possible. It is primarily
used to measure an athlete’s explosive lower-body power.

Concentric contractions: A concentric contraction is a type of muscle activation that

causes tension on your muscle as it shortens.

Depth Jump: It is a plyometric exercise that trains the ability to absorb force and utilize
elastic energy to produce greater concentric muscular force.

DJ: Drop jump or “drop vertical jump” (DVJ) is another of the jump tests that form part
of the Bosco protocol.

Eccentric contractions: Eccentric contraction occurs when the total length of the
muscle increase as tension is produced.

EUR: Eccentric utilization ratio. It is the ratio of countermovement jump to squat jump
performance (CMJ/SJ). It has been suggested as a useful indicator of power
performance in athletes.

FP: Force Platform. It is an instrument commonly used in gait analysis. It gives the total
force applied by the foot to the ground.

Isometrically: at one angle. During isometric exercises, the muscle doesn’t noticeably
change length.

Neuromuscular performance: Ability of the neuromuscular system to functionally

control and drive movements by an appropriate integration and coordination.

Neuromuscular deficits/asymmetries: Asymmetry is defined as the percent difference

in strength, power, and neuromuscular action between strong and weak limbs. It is one
of the principal risk factors for an injury.

Plyometric training: It is a powerful movement involving a system of reactive

exercises and explosive movements.
RSI: Reactive strength index. It is a measure of reactive jump capacity and displays
how an athlete copes with and performs plyometric activities. A higher RSI represents a
more efficient SSC function.

RTS: Return to Sport. Commonly serves as a measure for assessment of clinical

outcome in orthopedic sports medicine surgery. It is full participation without restriction
starting with practice before a live game.

SJ: Squat jump. The aim of the SJ is to characterize “pure” concentric triple extension
performance, and therefore the ability to produce mechanical work/performance output
without the benefit of a preceding pre-stretch or “eccentric phase”.

Stretch-Shortening Cycle (SSC): The basic muscle function is defined as SSC, where
the preactivated muscle is first stretch (eccentric) and the followed by the shortening
(concentric) action.

Torque: joint moment and force production. Peak torque is the highest torque achieved
at any point across the range of motion.

vGRF: Ground Reaction Force. It is the force exerted by the ground on a body in
contact with it. The vertical component of the GRF acts in front of the knee joint. The
horizontal component acts to the right and below the knee.