Biomechanics Introduction to Biomechanics What is Biomechnics? Biomechanics evaluates the motion of a living organism and the action of forces upon it. In the personal fitness training field, biomechanics can be looked at as the study of how the body moves and what causes movement either internally (via muscles) or externally (via external load or added weight bearing activities). Biomechanics is simply the application of the Laws of Physics to the human body.
Why are we concerned about Biomechanics?
If you were to pick up a sports biomechanics textbook, it would most likely say there are two primary goals for biomechanics: performance enhancement and injury prevention/rehabilitation. Biomechanics enhances performance by utilizing mechanical principles to improve an individual’s technique, the equipment they use and to modify specific training protocols that the trainer implements to help an individual acheive their goals. Similarly, for injury prevention and rehabilitation, biomechanics is used to develop techniques that reduce the chance of injury as well as changes in equipment design to reduce injury. Consider the “Job of a Trainer” from chapter 1. What is the goal of a personal fitness trainer? “Help clients reach their goals the most efficient, effective and safest way possible.” Now compare that with the goals of biomechanics. They are virtually the same! To reach goals (performance enhancement) the most efficient, effective and safest (injury prevention) way possible.
Think about what we’ve learned so far. When we move, our nervous system instructs our muscles to contract. These contractions cause bones to move around the axes of joints. For this reason, our bodies can be viewed as a series of levers (bones) which rotate around an axis (joints) under the direction of a force (muscular contraction). When working with a client, we have a responsibility to not only guide them to their goals, but to do so in a safe and effective manner. It is vital to have some understanding of how the human body is meant to move and more importantly, which movements to avoid and why. If a trainer does not understand these fundamental principles, their workouts will be inefficient and potentially dangerous. Our primary concern as trainers should always be to give clients the greatest benefit with the least amount of risk.
Biomechanics - a NEW way of looking at exercise
One of the primary goals of this chapter is to empower you with a solid foundation in biomechanics. Another is to introduce you to a new way of looking at exercise in general. This is new perspective is simply this: Exercise is simply a mechanical stress placed on the body to which the body will adapt. In order to understand this new perspective and it’s importance, one must be willing to accept several premises. Premise #1 The primary physiological effects of exercise (both good and bad) are in direct response to the mechanical stress placed on the body.