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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Sports Science, Technology and Engineering
Volume 6 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2024.1454309

Kinematic Analysis of the Back Squat at Different Load Intensities in Powerlifters and Weightlifters

Provisionally accepted
Valerio Giustino Valerio Giustino 1Domenico Savio Salvatore Vicari Domenico Savio Salvatore Vicari 2Flavia Figlioli Flavia Figlioli 1MARCO GERVASI MARCO GERVASI 3Eneko Fernández Peña Eneko Fernández Peña 4Naima Schifaudo Naima Schifaudo 1Mattia Tedesco Mattia Tedesco 5Patrik Drid Patrik Drid 6Antonio Paoli Antonio Paoli 7Giuseppe Battaglia Giuseppe Battaglia 1Antonino Bianco Antonino Bianco 1*Antonino Patti Antonino Patti 1
  • 1 Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy
  • 2 Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement, University of Verona, Verona, Veneto, Italy
  • 3 Department of Biomolecular Sciences - Division of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Urbino, Italy
  • 4 Faculty of Education and Sport, University of the Basque Country, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
  • 5 Independent researcher, Palermo, Italy
  • 6 Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Serbia
  • 7 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Veneto, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study aimed to evaluate the angular kinematics of the hip, knee, ankle, and the linear kinematics of the barbell during the back squat (BS) at different load intensities in powerlifters and weightlifters. Seventeen athletes were recruited (n=14 powerlifters; n=3 weightlifters). The 1-RM of the BS of each participant was calculated and, 1-week after, each participant was asked to perform 5 trials of the BS at different load intensities (i.e., 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 100%) of the 1-RM. An action camera recorded the execution of each BS trial in the sagittal plane and, afterward, the videos were analyzed by measuring the range of motion (ROM) of hip, knee, and ankle for the angular kinematics, and the timing, distances, speeds, and accelerations of the barbell during the BS for the linear kinematics. Regarding the angular kinematics, no significant differences were found in the parameters in the starting and ending positions among the 5 trials, while a significant decrease was found in the hip relative angle (p=0.026) in the maximum flexion position as load intensity increased. Regarding the linear kinematics, a significant difference was found in the descent acceleration (p=0.049) in the descent phase, while a significant difference was found in the ascent speed (p<.001) and vertical speed of ascent (p<.001) in the ascent phase, which decreased as load intensity increased. Our findings show that the angular and linear kinematics of BS change as load intensity increases.

    Keywords: Biomechanics, kinematics, squat, powerlifting, weightlifting

    Received: 24 Jun 2024; Accepted: 15 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Giustino, Vicari, Figlioli, GERVASI, Fernández Peña, Schifaudo, Tedesco, Drid, Paoli, Battaglia, Bianco and Patti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Antonino Bianco, Sport and Exercise Sciences Research Unit, Department of Psychology, Educational Science and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

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