Types Of Hip Extension Exercises: A Scientific Evaluation

Methods

Discuss about the Types Of Hip Extension Exercises.

The research contained the journal entitled “Are all hip extension exercises created equal?” was basically designed and carried out to determine whether all the hip exercises produce the same results (Contreras et al., 2013). These exercises are designed to create power and stamina to different people like athletes, footballers and other different people who participate in different games. The exercises are very important because they are one of the factors which determine whether the players will be successful in the career (Steele et al., 2015). They also make the body flexible and adaptable to the environment of the game. This makes it very important to evaluate different types of those exercises scientifically to determine the ones which are good and can produce the best results for the people.

Many researchers claim that these exercises may produce the same results given that other factors are kept constant that is the nature of the body, the number of years, the frequency of the exercises and the duration which the person takes to do the exercise (Kendall et al., 2015). However, other researchers claim that even though these exercises may have similar protocols on how they are carried out, some scientific factors can influence them and hence produce different results. Some of the scientific factors which can lead to different results include the angles at which the exercise are carried out and those angles maybe forty -five degrees, ninety degree and one eighty degrees respectively (Lun et al., 2015). Due to this perceived difference in the hip exercises, that is why the researchers decided to scientifically access if the claims are true that the exercises may produce different results.  

The researchers used physics methods to evaluate the effects of different types of exercises. They included three types of the exercises and named them as A, B and C respectively. The first exercise which is labeled as A and given the name good morning exercise is carried on at 90 degrees where by the participants lifts weight while standing straight and movement only occurs at the hips. The second exercise which is labeled as B and given the name back extension exercise is carried on at 90, 180, and 135 degrees but with the person bending over a torso. In this exercise, the person either makes the legs straight that is 90 degrees or bents them at 135 degrees or 180 respectively. The third exercise is labeled as C and called the horizontal back extension exercise.  This exercise is also carried out at three levels of degrees that are 90, 180 and 135 respectively. The person here moves the back side only while bending on the torso.

Results

There follow the methods of calculating the effects of each exercise. There are many factors and many determinants which are used to calculate the effects. Out of the three exercises, each of them includes a calculation of two moments. The two moments include the moment of the HAT acting on the Hip joint and the second one includes the moment of lb(45kg)  external resistance acting on the hip joint (Contreras et al., 2013). The calculations are carried out in different stages whereby the weight of HAT is calculated by multiplying the weight of the participant by 0.68.  Then the weight is converted to mass by multiplying it with the gravitational force which is 9.8.  The external torque of the HAT acting on the hip is then calculated.  There follows a calculation of the free torque and then the process is carried out in all the three different types of the exercise.

The methods chosen to carry out the calculations are well organized and in a logical manner. This applies that the researcher will arrive at the intended results. However, the researchers have not well explained the criteria they choose the participants and hence that may make the results not to be scientifically correct. It is good in any research to include the criteria used for finding out the participants (Ritichie et al., 2013). Also, the researchers have only used one person per exercise to determine the results which may not be good because different people may have different body structures which may be affected differently by the exercise hence the results may not be scientifically correct to generalize the either the three exercises have different effects or they have the same effect because of the methods used.

However, the methods used to carry out the calculations are scientifically and mathematically correct hence the results obtained may be true but just to the chosen participants and they should not be generalized to mean that all the other people who do those exercises have the same effect.  To carry out a good research, the researcher should be willing to include large sample size and make sure there are well- structured criteria’s which are adopted in the process of sample selection (Marshall and Rossman, 2014). This does not only ensure that the research is valid but also it makes sure that it is logical and scientifically reliable since it covers a large geographical area and involves participants from different locations (Spradley, 2016).

What I have learned

The researchers found that there was a significant difference between the three types of exercises and even there was a difference in the angles adopted on the axis of rotation. In the exercise called good morning torque,  at 90 degrees there were 478 instantaneous hip extension torques with 135 and 180 degrees having 338 and zero respectively. In the exercise called back extension, there were 338 instantaneous hip extension torques at 45 degrees with 478 and 338 at 135 and 180 degrees respectively. In the third exercise called horizontal back extension, the was zero instantaneous hip extension torques at 90 degrees with 338 and 478 at 135 and 180 degrees respectively.

Also, the researchers found that monoarticular muscles are mostly favored by the exercises.   They also found that exercises create different amounts of torque throughout the joints and different parts of the body. In addition, it was evident that exercises which involve a large torque have more effects on metabolic stress than those which produce little torque. However, it was evident that other factors like pressure and load were not having a great impact on the torque throughout the research hence were not supposed to be considered more in those exercises.  Muscle activation was increased in all levels of the exercises hence making the participants more active. This was very important to increase the performance of the participants since those people who have more active muscles tend to do better than those who less active muscles (Dumoulin et al., 2014).

The researchers made a conclusion on the observations they had made in the process of the research.  They concluded that all hip extension exercises are not created equal and the external torque tends to vary depending on the position of the body of the person from the ground.  This makes it possible to have different torque depending on the distance from the ground (Jakobsen et al., 2013). They also concluded that hip exercises done at 45 degrees have more consistent levels than the others.

They suggested that multiple hip expansion exercises should be performed at different levels and different times. These exercises help in reducing knee valgus and other related complications. It doesn’t matter the type of the exercise carried on but people should engage themselves in at least two of the exercises which are related to this study.  The time of the day when the exercises are carried out does not matter but it is important to carry the exercises out at least twice a day (Grabowski and D’Andrea, 2013).

I have learned the application of biomechanics in real life situations. The application of this discipline is very relevant to sports since it helps in the development of good sporting habit. As it is defined that biomechanics is the study of mechanical laws which relate to movement or the structure of all living organisms (McGinnis, 2013).  I realized that through the study of biomechanics I will be able to understand my body very well and how different types of exercises can influence it and be of benefit. Have also been able to understand how to differentiate types of external forces which are present during exercises and how those forces affect the body during the process of exercises hence making it possible to make good decisions on which position should I take when doing different types of exercises. Have learned how to place the body muscles in relative to the line of resistance to achieve the best results. This placing of the muscles determines the extent to which the taken exercise will be of benefit to the participant.

In addition, biomechanics is of great importance in the prevention of injuries. This is because the discipline involves the study of both internal and external forces of the body so any person who has knowledge in it is able to understand how to balance the internal and external forces so as to avoid injuries (Song, 2013). All nurses and doctors who occasionally deal with solving the issues relating to players should have the knowledge of biomechanics so as to perform their duties in a good way. This can only be achieved through the study of the discipline.

Also, the knowledge of biomechanics does not only apply to the players who take sports as their life time career, it also helps those people who take sports as part time career to develop a good series which can make them successful even though they don’t take exercises every time (Fung, 2013). The understanding of this discipline also helps people to minimize stress especially if they apply the knowledge well. This is because many scientists have proved that exercises minimize stress hence if you have the knowledge of biomechanics and you apply it while doing exercises it makes you perform it better hence producing good exercise results which contribute to the minimization of stress (Yoganandan et al., 2014).

This exercise has greatly contributed to the understanding of biomechanics in larger dimensions. It has made me understand that not only the discipline is studied theoretical but also it has a very wide application in real life situation. Among the real life application of this discipline is sports and injury prevention during exercises. These applications are not only helpful to the sports people but also to those people who train others on how to perform exercises well hence the knowledge of biomechanics is very relevant in the field of the gym.

Also, I have been able to understand the logic behind exercises where it happens that some people perform exercises and the results are different. Have also understood that people may have the same body features but some do better in exercises than others simply because they apply different techniques in the exercises. This happens because of the nature of the exercises each individual chose to practice in and is basically influenced by biomechanics. Biomechanics is a good discipline which people should study for their own benefit even if they will not take part in sports.

References

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Fung, Y. C. (2013). Biomechanics: motion, flow, stress, and growth. Springer Science & Business Media.

Grabowski, A. M., & D’Andrea, S. (2013). Effects of a powered ankle-foot prosthesis on kinetic loading of the unaffected leg during level-ground walking. Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 10(1), 49.

Jakobsen, P. D., Langmaack, L., Dahl, F., & Breivik, T. (2013). Development of the Soft Ground Abrasion Tester (SGAT) to predict TBM tool wear, torque and thrust. Tunnelling and underground space technology, 38, 398-408.

Kendall, K. D., Emery, C. A., Wiley, J. P., & Ferber, R. (2015). The effect of the addition of hip strengthening exercises to a lumbopelvic exercise programme for the treatment of non-specific low back pain: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 18(6), 626-631.

Lun, V., Marsh, A., Bray, R., Lindsay, D., & Wiley, P. (2015). Efficacy of hip strengthening exercises compared with leg strengthening exercises on knee pain, function, and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 25(6), 509-517.

Marshall, C., & Rossman, G. B. (2014). Designing qualitative research. Sage publications.

McGinnis, P. (2013). Biomechanics of sport and exercise. Human Kinetics.

Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., & Elam, R. G. (2013). Selecting samples. Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers, 111.

Song, W. (2013). Study on the analysis and simulation of fosbury flop technique based on the sports biomechanics. BioTechnology: An Indian Journal, 8(10).

Spradley, J. P. (2016). Participant observation. Waveland Press.

Steele, J., Bruce-Low, S., & Smith, D. (2015). A review of the specificity of exercises designed for conditioning the lumbar extensors. Br J Sports Med, 49(5), 291-297.

Yoganandan, N., Nahum, A. M., & Melvin, J. W. (Eds.). (2014). Accidental injury: biomechanics and prevention. Springer.