What is Biomechanics?

WHY STUDY BIOMECHANICS?

Biomechanics describes the beauty of human movement, how it happens and why it happens. Some scholars study biomechanics purely for their academic interest in discovering laws and concepts of human movement. Biomechanics is mostly dealt with in sports and exercise. Application of biomechanics to human movement can be broadly classified into: 

1) PREVENTING AND TREATING INJURY: 

Another major domain of the application of biomechanics is the prevention and treatment of injury and movement safety. Biomechanics professionals who study injury data to determine the potential cause of an injury and to understand how it can be cured by imparting the information on the mechanical properties of tissues, mechanical loadings during movement, and preventive and rehabilitative therapies. The study of the injury data is known as epidemiology. Not only do sport athletes undergo movement injury but the old age people suffer from stiff joints and movements. Also, the increased participation of ladies in sports has made it clear that females are at a better risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries than males because of several biomechanical factors. Since the 1980s the planning and engineering of most sports shoes has included research in company biomechanics labs. When accidents end in amputation, prosthetics or artificial limbs are often designed to match the mechanical properties of the missing limb. Preventing acute injuries is additionally another area of biomechanics research. Forensic biomechanics consists of reconstructing the causes of injury from accident measurements and also witness testimony. 

2) IMPROVEMENT OF PERFORMANCE:

Effective movement involves a number of factors such as anatomical factors, neuromuscular skills, physiological capabilities and cognitive abilities. Kinesiological professionals prescribe movement instructions and techniques which help their patients to improve on his/her performance. Biomechanics is the most useful in terms of improving performance in sports or activities where technique is required rather than physical and psychological factors. Consider the case of a coach working on improving a gymnast’s performance who is facing problems with her back handspring. After several attempts and study, the coach arrives at the conclusion that due to poor angle of take-off from the ground and body arch, the gymnast fails to efficiently summersault. The coach’s experience tells him that the gymnast is capable of performing this action. Now the coach has to decide whether he wants the gymnast to work on her angle of take-off or focus more on her back hypertension. The coach decides that the gymnast needs to work on her arch which will automatically affect the angle of take-off from the ground. The coach hence uses his knowledge of biomechanics to quantitatively analyse the situation and improve the gymnast’s performance. 

Since biomechanics is essentially the science of movement technique, biomechanics is the main contributor to one of the most important skills to kinesiology professionals: the qualitative analysis of human movement.A humble example would be the activity of running. There has been a considerable amount of research on the biomechanics of running. So, coaches usually check a runner’s technique to match the profile of elite runners. Though these technique adjustments are made to make improvements in performance, running ability is usually related to psychological abilities and their training. Hence, refining the running techniques can make only small improvements in running. Human performance can also be increased by improving the design of equipment. Much of these equipments are related to the material being used to make that particular equipment and also its engineering designs. When such changes are combined with the information of the human performer, improvement on equipment based on biomechanics is said to occur. The major sport goods companies which manufacture these equipments are constantly researching to improve the biomechanics of equipment. But the results of these research are much safe guarded and is difficult for a layman to determine whether the “improvement” in equipment designs are real biomechanical innovations or are just marketing claims. A few humble examples of improvement in sport equipment is that of javelin and tennis rackets. The javelin disks were improved in 1930s which resulted in longer throws and endangered other athletes as well as the spectators. This was because there were redesigns in the weight distribution of the javelin disk. According to the new rules set up for javelin throw events, the javelin is designed such that it has shorter throws. While for tennis rackets, Elliot, Ward and Groppel were one of the first biomechanics researchers to call for smaller tennis rackets that matched the physical especially muscular strength of young players. Though breaking world records by improving the design and structure of the equipment is thrilling, the truth lies in the fact that most sport governing bodies do not welcome such changes with open arms as it is unfair to other players who don’t have such advanced equipment. Some equipment changes are so drastic that they change the very nature of the game. Yet another way to improve the biomechanics of a person is by advancing in exercise and conditioning programs.  Strength and conditioning professionals can better apply the principle of specificity when biomechanical research is used in the development of exercise programs.