QUANTIFICATION OF ELASTIC RESISTANCE KNEE REHABILITATION EXERCISES

Elastic resistance exercises are frequently used for knee rehabilitati on following injury and/or surgery. The evidence supporting this mode of rehabilitation is primarily anecdotal, and no biomechanical assessm ent of elastic resistance exercises has been previously published. The purpose of this project was to quantify muscle activation levels, kne e joint angles, and applied force during five rehabilitation exercises utilizing an elastic resistance device. Twelve subjects with no previ ous knee injury performed double knee dip, hamstring pull, leg press, single knee dip, and side-to-side jump exercises while sagittal plane kinematics, applied force from the elastic resistance device, and elec tromyographic activity of eight lower extremity muscles were collected . The muscle activation patterns suggest a progressive continuum of re habilitation exercises that can be applied to nonoperative injuries as well as anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions.