Humans adjust control to initial squat depth in vertical squat jumping

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the control strategy that humans use in jumping. Eight male gymnasts performed vertical squat jumps from five initial postures that differed in squat depth (P1–P5) while kinematic data, ground reaction forces, and electromyograms (EMGs) of leg muscles were collected; the latter were rectified and smoothed to obtain SREMGs. P3 was the preferred initial posture; in P1, P2, P4, and P5 height of the mass center was +13, +7, −7 and −14 cm, respectively, relative to that in P3. Furthermore, maximum-height jumps from the initial postures observed in the subjects were simulated with a model comprising four body segments and six Hill-type muscles. The only input was the onset of stimulation of each of the muscles (Stim). The subjects were able to perform well-coordinated squat jumps from all postures. Peak SREMG levels did not vary among P1–P5, but SREMG onset of plantarflexors occurred before that of gluteus maximus in P1 and >90 ms after that in P5 ( P < 0.05). In the simulation study, similar systematic shifts occurred in Stim onsets across the optimal control solutions for jumps from P1–P5. Because the adjustments in SREMG onsets to initial posture observed in the subjects were very similar to the adjustments in optimal Stim onsets of the model, it was concluded that the SREMG adjustments were functional, in the sense that they contributed to achieving the greatest jump height possible from each initial posture. For the model, we were able to develop a mapping from initial posture to Stim onsets that generated successful jumps from P1–P5. It appears that to explain how subjects adjust their control to initial posture there is no need to assume that the brain contains an internal dynamics model of the musculoskeletal system.