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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sports Med Int Open 2024; 08: a23462759
DOI: 10.1055/a-2346-2759
Training & Testing

Effect of Lower Limb Muscle Fatigue on Dynamic Balance Performance in Healthy Young Adults: Role of Arm Movement

Katharina Borgmann
1   Division of Movement and Training Sciences/Biomechanics of Sport, University of Duisburg-Essen – Campus Essen, Essen, Germany
,
Ruben Brinkmann
2   Division of Movement and Training Sciences/Biomechanics of Sport, University of Duisburg-Essen – Campus Essen, Essen, Germany
,
Julian Bauer
3   University of Konstanz, Department of Sport Science, Human Performance Research Centre, Konstanz, Germany
,
Mathew W. Hill
4   Center for Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
,
Thomas Muehlbauer
5   Division of Movement and Training Sciences/Biomechanics of Sport, University of Duisburg-Essen – Campus Essen, Essen, Germany
› Author Affiliations Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. We acknowledge support by the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Duisburg-Essen organised by the project DEAL. The funding body is independent of the design of the study and collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and in writing the manuscript.
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Abstract

There is evidence that balance performance deteriorates due to exercise-induced muscle fatigue. However, it is unknown if free arm movement during balance testing can compensate for, or restricted arm movement can amplify these performance degradations. Thus, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of free versus restricted arm movement on balance performance under non-fatigued and fatigued conditions. Fifty-two healthy participants (men=31, women=21; age=22.6±1.6 years) were assessed for their dynamic balance (reach distances for the Y Balance Test – Lower Quarter) under non-fatigued and fatigued (repetitive vertical bipedal box jumps until failure) conditions using two different arm positions: free (move the arms freely) and restricted (keep the arms akimbo) arm movement. Restriction of arm movement (all p<0.001; 0.48≤η p 2≤0.79) and application of fatigue (p≤0.003; 0.16≤η p 2≤0.28) independently, but not the interaction between the two (except for the posteromedial reach direction: p=0.046; η p 2=0.08), resulted in significantly deteriorated lower limb reach distances. These findings suggest that free arm movement and thus the use of an ‘upper body strategy’ has no compensatory effect on muscle fatigue-induced balance deteriorations.

Keywords

postural control - upper body strategy - arm position - lower extremities - reaching movement - exhaustion


Publication History

Received: 26 February 2024
Received: 22 May 2024

Accepted: 28 May 2024

Article published online:
11 September 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Bibliographical Record
Katharina Borgmann, Ruben Brinkmann, Julian Bauer, Mathew W. Hill, Thomas Muehlbauer. Effect of Lower Limb Muscle Fatigue on Dynamic Balance Performance in Healthy Young Adults: Role of Arm Movement. Sports Med Int Open 2024; 08: a23462759.
DOI: 10.1055/a-2346-2759
 

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