Comparison of Isometric Knee Extension Torque-Angle Relationship between Taekwondo Athletes and Normal Adults

Abstract

Objective : In order for Taekwondo athletes to perform destructive kicking performance, they are expected to have Taekwondo-specific muscle properties such as high muscle strength and power. The purpose of this study was to investigate the joint angle-dependent force-producing property of Taekwondo athletes’ knee extensor muscles, which is one of the primary muscle groups involved in kicking performance. Method : Ten Taekwondo male athletes (age: 19.9±0.7 yrs, height: 180.6±6.2 cm, body mass: 75.9±8.9 kg, career: 9.2±2.9 yrs.) and 10 healthy male non-athletes (age: 26.3±2.6 yrs, height: 174.2±4.8 cm, body mass: 72.8±7.7 kg) participated in this study. Subjects performed maximum isometric knee extension at knee joint angles of 40°, 60°, 80°, and 100° (the full knee extension was set to 0°) with the hip joint angles of 0° and 80° (the full extension was set to 0°). During the contractions, knee extension torque using an isokinetic dynamometer simultaneously with muscle activities of the rectus femoris (RF), and the vastus lateralis (VL) and vastus medialis (VM) using surface electromyography were recorded. Based on the torque values at systematically different knee-hip joint angles, the joint torque-angle relationships were established and then the optimal joint angle for the knee extensor was estimated. Results : The results of this study showed that the isometric knee extension torque values were greater for the Taekwondo athletes compared with the non-athlete group at all hip-knee joint angle combinations (<.05). When the hip joint was set at 80°, the peak isometric torque was greater for the Taekwondo athletes compared with the non-athlete group (313.61±36.79 Nm and 221.43±35.92 Nm, respectively;  <.05) but the estimated optimum knee joint angles were similar (62.33±5.71° and 62.30±4.67° for the Taekwondo athletes and non-athlete group, respectively). When the hip joint was set at 0°, the peak isometric torque was greater for the Taekwondo athletes compared with the non-athlete group (296.29±45.13 Nm and 199.58±25.23 Nm, respectively; <.05) and the estimated optimum knee joint angle was larger for the Taekwondo athletes compared with the non-athlete group (78.47±5.14° and 67.54±5.77°, respectively; <.05). Conclusion : The results of this study suggests that, compared with non-athletes, Taekwondo athletes have stronger knee extensor strength at all hip-knee joint angle combinations as well as longer optimum muscle length, which might be optimized for the event-specific required performance through prolonged training period.