Effect of Obesity on Human Squat Exercise

This paper deals with the effect of obesity on human squat exercise. The aforementioned clinical condition affects gait (and other daily common activities) in a sense that alterations are made to gait patterns and speed in order to accommodate the patient when participating in physical activities such as walking, making a turn, etc. This work consists of experimental data collected from a subject during moderate squat exercise. Two cases were considered, first, subject with no additional mass, and second, subject with additional mass. The experimental data is collected in the Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The squat depth for each trial was kept at a constant height 1 foot from the ground, which corresponds to moderate squat exercise. Phase planes, tools used in nonlinear dynamics, were used to investigate the significant differences between the two cases, no additional weight vs. additional weight. Also, Lyapunov exponents are calculated to assess the stability of the knee joint. There are significant differences in the lateral direction of the centers of mass of both femur and tibia. Moreover the stability of the knee flexion angle decreases with additional mass.