Quantifying Muscle Forces and Joint Loading During Hip Exercises Performed With and Without an Elastic Resistance Band

Abstract

An increase in hip joint contact forces (HJCFs) is one of the main contributing mechanical causes of hip joint pathologies, such as hip osteoarthritis, and its progression. The strengthening of the surrounding muscles of the joint is a way to increase joint stability, which results in the reduction of HJCF. Most of the exercise recommendations are based on expert opinions instead of evidence-based facts. This study aimed to quantify muscle forces and joint loading during rehabilitative exercises using an elastic resistance band (ERB). Hip exercise movements of 16 healthy volunteers were recorded using a three-dimensional motion capture system and two force plates. All exercises were performed without and with an ERB and two execution velocities. Hip joint kinematics, kinetics, muscle forces, and HJCF were calculated based on the musculoskeletal simulations in OpenSim. Time-normalized waveforms of the different exercise modalities were compared with each other and with reference values found during walking. The results showed that training with an ERB increases both target muscle forces and HJCF. Furthermore, the ERB reduced the hip joint range of motion during the exercises. The type of ERB used (soft vs. stiff ERB) and the execution velocity of the exercise had a minor impact on the peak muscle forces and HJCF. The velocity of exercise execution, however, had an influence on the total required muscle force. Performing hip exercises without an ERB resulted in similar or lower peak HJCF and lower muscle forces than those found during walking. Adding an ERB during hip exercises increased the peak muscle and HJCF but the values remained below those found during walking. Our workflow and findings can be used in conjunction with future studies to support exercise design.