How is biomechanics used in physical activity professions?
Find a professional journal (hard copy or online) in a career that interests you (for example, the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; Journal of Biomechanics; Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators; International Journal of Sports Medicine). Write a literature review that includes answers to the following questions:
Be sure to use APA format, as specified in the APA 5th edition handbook. Format guidelines are also available at: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/apa/index.html
What was the purpose or the main topic of the article?
How was biomechanics important in this article? For example, were biomechanical instruments used to measure the data? Was the author’s information based on biomechanical principles? If so, which principle?
How can you relate this information to your career choice?
A literature review is a summary of all the literature on a given topic. You will be finding at least one quality article from a professional journal (hard copy or online) in a career that interests you (for example, the Journal of Physical Education, Recreation; Journal of Biomechanics; Strategies: A Journal for Physical and Sport Educators; International Journal of Sports Medicine). Your article must answer the following question:
How is biomechanics used in physical activity professions?
Your goal is to continually refocus your research so that you have a point of reference for selecting the pertinent sections of the literature.
The essential steps involved in a review of the literature include:
1. Defining the research problem/topic as precisely as possible
2. Pursuing the secondary sources
3. Selecting and pursuing an appropriate general reference
4. Formulating search terms
5. Searching the general references for relevant primary sources
6. Obtaining and reading the primary sources, and noting and summarizing key points in the sources.
As the fitness industry grows in popularity and importance, it is of the utmost importance that we as fitness professionals continue to develop a growing knowledge of the exercise sciences to communicate effectively with the established health professions and sciences on “common ground”. The following article, while at times technical, provides an integral part of that knowledge base necessary to facilitate such communication. We encourage you to read (and reread if necessary) this article in its entirety, and in parts, to properly assimilate the presented information. If necessary, please consult with the appropriate health professional.
Physical education has evolved in recent years from physical training and coaching to kinesiology, the study of movement. To the general public this change has gone unnoticed. For those in the fitness professions, kinesiology may seem mysterious. Kinesiology includes a broad range of disciplines such as exercise physiology, sport psychology, sport sociology, motor control, and biomechanics. Here is an opportunity for personal trainers to get an insight into the science of biomechanics.
Biomechanics is the science which applies the laws of mechanics to biological movement. One area of interest to biomechanists is studying the body during sport or exercise situations. Sports biomechanists attempt to answer two basic questions: how to improve performance, and how to make activities safer. To answer these questions, sports biomechanists use two sub disciplines: 1) kinematics, the description of motion, and 2) kinetics, the study of the forces that act on the body.
Biomechanists attempting to improve performance do so in one of two ways. The first is to use kinematics to analyze the motion of a skilled athlete. The assumption is that the skilled athlete has learned the most efficient way to perform the movement, and that others can improve simply by copying the successful athlete. The second way of improving performance is to use kinetics to find some more efficient way of moving which makes better use of the mechanical advantage of the body.
There are also two different approaches to reducing injury. One approach is to use kinematics and kinetics to determine the forces acting on the body, and find ways to lower the forces which cause injury. Another approach is to leave the movement as it is, and design equipment that would reduce the forces acting on the body. An obvious example of this approach is the improvement of shoe design in recent years.
Applying the basic tools described above, sports biomechanists are able to examine some problems of interest in sports and exercise. However, the greatest difficulty facing biomechanists is how to communicate the research that is being done with the people who are actively involved in sports and exercise. There needs to be more communication between all exercise scientists, including biomechanists, and the fitness professionals who are in a position to apply their research. Like many of the disciplines of kinesiology, biomechanists need the input of practitioners for suggesting future research. With this in mind, this article is intended to give an overview of kinematics and kinetics, including a description of some of the basic terminology and concepts.