Research summary · Injury prevention
How quadriceps and hamstring fatigue alter landing mechanics
Researchers randomized 108 athletes to induced quadriceps or hamstring fatigue and assessed single-leg forward-drop landings; 93 completed the study and entered the analysis.
- Publication year
- 2026
- First published online
- Publication type
- Randomized comparative laboratory study
- Journal
- BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation
- Population / context
- Athletes aged 20–25 · Single-leg landing
What the publication reports
Hamstring fatigue produced larger changes in knee flexion, vertical ground-reaction force and anterior tibial shear force. Quadriceps fatigue had greater effects on knee abduction and adduction moments, indicating muscle-specific mechanical responses.
Limits and interpretation
These are acute laboratory measures related to loading, not observed ACL injuries. Attrition, a narrow age range and experimentally induced fatigue limit translation to real matches, injury prediction or prevention programme effectiveness.
Read the source
Consult the original record for the full author list, methods, references, funding and competing-interest disclosures.
Is there a difference in knee biomechanics due to fatigue of the quadriceps versus hamstrings during landing on a single limb? a randomized comparative laboratory study
Original publication / indexed recordPMID: 42829434DOI: 10.1186/s13102-026-02103-yFull text at the sourceReader discussion
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