Biomechanics Commons^™

The Influence Of Musculoskeletal Geometry On The Metabolic Cost Of Pedaling, Lex Gidley

Doctoral Dissertations

The human musculoskeletal system consists of several muscles crossing each joint. In the human lower limb, most major muscles cross either one or two joints; labeled as uniarticular or biarticular muscles, respectively. The major biarticular muscles of the leg are the rectus femoris, hamstrings, and gastrocnemius. Several suggestions have been proposed as to how biarticular muscles may reduce the metabolic cost of human movement. Using experimental protocols, it is difficult to address the energetic effects of biarticular muscles, as individual muscle contributions to human movement cannot be measured and there is no way to determine what the effect might be …