Biomechanics

Dr. Jewelson M. Santos

 WHAT IS BIOMECHANICS?
Biomechanics has been defined as the study of the
movement of living things using the science of mechanics .
Mechanics is a branch of physics that is concerned with the
description of motion and how forces create motion. Forces
acting on living things can create motion, be a healthy
stimulus for growth and development, or overload tissues,
causing injury. Biomechanics provides conceptual and
mathematical tools that are necessary for understanding how
living things move and how kinesiology professionals might
improve movement or make movement safer.
 APPLICATION OF BIOMECHANICS
Improving Performance
• Human movement performance can be
enhanced many ways. Effective
movement involves anatomical factors,
neuromuscular skills, physiological
capacities, and psychological/cognitive
abilities. Most kinesiology professionals
prescribe technique changes and give
instructions that allow a person to improve
performance. Biomechanics is most useful
in improving performance in sports or
activities where technique is the dominant
factor rather than physical structure or
physiological capacity. Since
biomechanics is essentially the
Preventing and Treating Injury
• Movement safety, or injury prevention/
treatment, is another primary area where
biomechanics can be applied. Sports medicine
professionals have traditionally studied injury
data to try to determine the potential causes of
disease or injury (epidemiology).
Biomechanical research is a powerful ally in
the sports medicine quest to prevent and treat
injury. Biomechanical studies help prevent
injuries by providing information on the
mechanical properties of tissues, mechanical
loadings during movement, and preventative or
rehabilitative therapies. Biomechanical studies
provide important data to confirm potential
injury mechanisms hypothesized by sports
medicine physicians and epidemiological
studies.
 Lever Systems in the Body
Parts of a Lever
Synovial joints are moveable joints; a few examples of these
are the shoulder, spine, knee, elbow, and ankle. To
understand why some synovial joints have more efficient
lever systems, we must first understand the relationships
between the three lever parts: an effort or force applied to the
lever, a fulcrum, and a load. A synovial joint also has these:
effort (a muscle’s applied force at the insertion site of a
bone), a fulcrum (the joint axis), and a load (the body
part/weight to be moved).
 Lever Systems in the Body
There are three different
kinds of levers: first class,
second class, and third class.
Each of these lever classes
have unique arrangements of
the muscle’s insertion (effort)
and bones (lever/arm)
around the joint (fulcrum).
See the chart below to
visualize the difference
between the levers:
 Effort Arm vs. Load Arm
The efficiency of a lever relies on
the ratio of the effort arm to the
load arm. The effort arm (EA) is
the distance between the fulcrum
and the effort; in the body, this is
the distance between the joint
and the muscle’s insertion site.
The load arm (LA) is the distance
between the fulcrum and the load;
in the body, this is the distance
between the joint and the loaded
body part.
 Effort Arm vs. Load Arm
The greater the ratio of the effort
arm to the load arm, the more
efficient the lever system is (i.e.
the easier it is to move the load).
Therefore, if the distance
between a muscle’s insertion site
and the joint is greater than the
distance between the load and
the joint, your muscle is at an
advantage. This is why your
gastrocnemius can lift more
weight than your bicep, even if
they are equally as strong!
Sample
• Pretend you need to move a really heavy
rock. To lift it, you could create a first class
lever system with a shovel and cinder block.
You strategically position the cinder block so
that when you use it as leverage, the middle
of the shovel handle rests on it. Now, when
you put your hands on the end of the shovel
to apply a downward force (effort) that
leverages the rock (load), your hands and the
rock are equally distant from the cinder block
(fulcrum). Thus, your effort arm and load arm
are equal. To make it even easier, you could
move the cinder block closer to the rock,
moving the fulcrum closer to the load. This
decreases the load arm and increases the
effort arm, making the lever more efficient
and allowing you to lift the rock while
applying less force.
 Atlanto-Occipital Joint as a First Class
Lever
• A first class lever in the human body
is the head and neck during neck
extension. The fulcrum (atlanto-
occipital joint) is in between the load
(front of the skull) and the effort
(neck extensor muscles). The
muscles are attached to the
posterior part of the skull to allow for
the greatest effort arm. The atlanto-
occipital joint in the middle provides
leverage, and when the muscles
contract, pulling the occipital bone
down, the front of the skull is lifted.
 Elbow Joint as a Third Class Lever
• Third class lever system are abundant in
the human body. In our case of a
weighted bicep curl and a calf raise, the
lever system involved in a bicep curl is
mechanically less efficient than the lever
system involved in a calf raise. The elbow
joint is an example of a third class lever,
operating with the effort between the load
and fulcrum. The distance between the
elbow joint and the insertion site of the
bicep tendon is very small, especially
when it’s compared to the distance
between the elbow joint and the weight in
your hand. The effort arm is significantly
shorter than the load arm, making the
ratio very small. When you try to curl the
weight, your bicep has to work harder
because it is at a mechanical
disadvantage.
 The Calf as a Second Class Lever
• A second class lever is the only
lever that can promise that the effort
arm will always be greater than the
load arm. This arrangement results
in a bigger effort arm to load arm
ratio, making the second class lever
the most mechanically
advantageous. In a calf raise, the
effort comes from the gastrocnemius
muscle, which is attached to your
calcaneus bone. The load comes
from your body weight and the extra
weight you are holding; this force
acts on the lever system through the
tibia. The fulcrum is made up of the
metacarpophalengeal joint.
 The Calf as a Second Class Lever
• A second class lever is the only
lever that can promise that the effort
arm will always be greater than the
load arm. This arrangement results
in a bigger effort arm to load arm
ratio, making the second class lever
the most mechanically
advantageous. In a calf raise, the
effort comes from the gastrocnemius
muscle, which is attached to your
calcaneus bone. The load comes
from your body weight and the extra
weight you are holding; this force
acts on the lever system through the
tibia. The fulcrum is made up of the
metacarpophalengeal joint.
 WHAT IS MOTION?
The biomechanical principle of motion relates to linear
motion, velocity, speed, acceleration, and momentum. Motion
is a movement that results from a force. In any physical
activity, there are multiple forces and motions occurring. This
could include angular motion around a joint or the motion of
the whole body in various directions. The motion or
movements of the body are often caused by forces produced
by our muscles, but this is not always the case.
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Law of Inertia - Newton’s First Law of inertia states that objects
tend to resist changes in their state of motion. An object in motion
will tend to stay in motion and an object at rest will tend to stay at
rest unless acted upon by a force.
Example - The body of a player quickly sprinting down the field
will tend to want to retain that motion unless muscular forces can
overcome this inertia or a skater gliding on ice will continue
gliding with the same speed and in the same direction, barring
the action of an external force
 How Inertia Applies to
Biomechanics
Consider the late swing phase of
gait and the forces going forward
with the lower extremity. Just
prior to heel-strike there are
almost no muscles activated that
bring the extremity forward, yet it
is still proceeding to travel forward
in space. This is inertia. To deal
with this inertia the body deploys
an eccentric contraction of the
hamstrings to slow down the
extremity to prepare for heel-strike
and to reduce harsh reactionary
forces.
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Law of Acceleration - Newton’s Second Law precisely explains how
much motion a force creates. The acceleration (tendency of an object to
change speed or direction) an object experiences is proportional to the
size of the force and inversely proportional to the object’s mass (F = ma).
Example - When a ball is thrown, kicked, or struck with an implement, it
tends to travel in the direction of the line of action of the applied force.
Similarly, the greater the amount of force applied, the greater the speed
the ball has[9]. If a player improves leg strength through training while
maintaining the same body mass, they will have an increased ability to
accelerate the body using the legs, resulting in better agility and speed.
This also relates to the ability to rotate segments, as mentioned above
 Force = Mass x Acceleration (F = ma)
The net force applied to a body (mass) produces a
proportional acceleration. This law describes the
relationship between an object’s mass, acceleration,
and the applied force. Both acceleration and force
must have the same vector direction.
Momentum = mass x velocity. The change of
momentum of a body is proportional to the impulse
impressed on the body, and happens along the
straight line on which that impulse is impressed.
Momentum cannot be changed unless acted upon
by an outside force; it can only be conserved.

Acceleration is proportional to the unbalanced

forces acting on it and inversely proportional to the
mass of the object (a = F/m)
 How F=ma Applies to Biomechanics
Pretty much every static and dynamic movement
has a force. Muscles are the tissues that contract
and create force on the body’s levers (connective
tissue, bones). With any human movement, F=ma
can be used to create a simplified calculation of
force. This equation can even be used with static
positions. Consider the static forward head
posture. Gravity and the mass of the head
imposes an antero-inferior force. To counter this
force and prevent your neck from snapping off at
your desk, you have to constantly contract your
levator scapulae, upper trapezius, and posterior
cervical muscles to counter this force. By
calculating the acceleration of gravity and mass of
the head, you can begin to calculate the muscle
forces necessary to prevent movement.
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Law of Reaction - The Third Law states that for every action (force)
there is an equal and opposite reaction force. This means that forces do
not act alone, but occur in equal and opposite pairs between interacting
bodies.
Example - The force created by the legs “pushing” against the ground
results in ground reaction forces in which the ground “pushes back” and
allows the player to move across the court (As the Earth is much more
massive than the player, the player accelerates and moves rapidly, while
the Earth does not really accelerate or move at all). This action-reaction
also occurs at impact with the ball as the force applied to the ball is
matched with an equal and opposite force applied to the racket/body.
 How Action-Reaction Applies
to Biomechanics
Putting that ankle weight on a
patients leg will create an
increase in the force of the
mass and downward pull with
gravity, the reaction is that
the opposing muscle will have
to create a force to overcome
this mass. Another example
of this law is with ground
reaction forces. Running on
soft ground will result in
much less impact forces than
running on hard concrete.
 Momentum
Linear Momentum

• Linear momentum is momentum in a straight line e.g. linear

momentum is created as the athlete sprints in a straight line
down the 100m straight on the track.
 Momentum
Angular Momentum

• Angular momentum is rotational momentum and is created by the

rotations of the various body segments e.g. The open stance forehand
uses significant angular momentum. The tremendous increase in the
use of angular momentum in ground strokes and serves has had a
significant impact on the game of tennis. One of the main reasons for
the increase in power of the game today is the incorporation of angular
momentum into ground stroke and serve techniques. In tennis, the
angular momentum developed by the coordinated action of body
segments transfers to the linear momentum of the racquet at impact.
 Law of Conservation of Momentum
In biomechanics momentum p is the product of mass of a human body m
(or mass of any object) and its velocity v:
p = mv
Momentum allows us to use a single value to express the measure of both
motion and inertia of the given body. In sport and physical exercise most
bodies have constant mass. If their velocity does not change, their
momentum also stays constant. We know that velocity does not change if
the following holds true: ΣF = o. Therefore we can state: if the resultant
force acting on a body is zero. Since velocity is a vector, momentum is also
a vector quantity. Law of Conservation of Momentum is not very interesting
when applied to a single body but it becomes very important to us when
applied to behaviour of two and more bodies.
 Law of Conservation of Momentum
If no external force acts on a closed system of bodies, the momentum of the
closed system remains constant.

Law of Conservation of Momentum can be specifically applied to the analysis

of collisions in sport and physical exercise. Collisions in sport and physical
exercise can be found everywhere – in boxing, kicking the ball, body checking
in ice hockey, etc. Results of such collisions can be explained using Law of
Conservation of Momentum.
 Elastic collisions
If two bodies encounter in a totally elastic collision, their resultant
total momentum is conserved. Moreover, in this case the Law of
Conservation of Energy is not infringed due to deformation of the
bodies. This principle can be used to predict the resultant velocities
of both bodies after the collision:
 Elastic collisions
v1 and v2, respectively, are velocities of the bodies before the collision,
u1 and u2, respectively, are velocities of the bodies after the collision,
m1 a m2 are masses of the bodies that encountered in the collision.

In elastic collision the bodies are pressed for a very short time and
their kinetic energy is conserved in them as deformation energy
(similarly to a compressed spring). This energy is rapidly transformed
back to kinetic energy and used in a totally elastic collision for
rebound, with no residuum. In elastic collision part of kinetic energy is
transformed into heat (i.e. vibration energy of the atoms).
 Elastic collisions
Three types of collisions that can be described by the model of totally elastic collision:

1. A moving body encounters a static body, acting with a central force (For example a
pool ball hits a static ball and stops, while the originally static ball takes over its
velocity.) Generally speaking (balls with various masses) the moving ball gives all
its momentum to the static ball.
2. Two bodies encounter with opposite velocities and exchange their momenta.
3. The first body is faster than the second body and both bodies move before
encounter in the same direction. Again, they exchange their momenta. Such
situation occurs when a faster cross country skier in a downhill section catches up
a slower skier and by touching him passes on him his momentum. At the same
time the faster skier receives momentum from the skier ahead of him.
 Inelastic collisions
Not all collisions are elastic. In totally inelastic collisions
momentum is also conserved but after the collision both bodies
move together in the same resultant direction. The following then
holds true:

where u is resultant common velocity. Most collisions in rugby are

almost totally inelastic. Both players move in the same direction
after the collision.
Let us imagine a situation of a defender with
the weight of 80 kg colliding with a forward
weighing 120 kg. Just before the collision the
defender’s velocity is 6 m/s while the
forward’s velocity is -5 m/s (opposite
direction). Will the forward move ahead and
score or will he be stopped?

The forward will move ahead in the original

direction of his motion with the velocity of
0,6 m/s together with the defender and
probably score.

Most collisions in sport are neither totally

elastic, nor totally inelastic.