In the Moment
Here’s a riddle for you; Is a wall squat more like a typical back squat or a knee extension? Seems obvious, right? But, if you’ve been listening to our podcast, things are not always what they seem.
Still, the riddle remains. Whether you’re a personal trainer or exercise enthusiast, how would you begin to correctly answer this question? You can start with an opinion, but, knowing us by now, you know we prefer a more scientific approach. Is the answer that it resembles a back squat and has a similar kinetic chain? Or, is there something else, something inherent in every single exercise, although we rarely hear or see it mentioned in typical exercise commentary?
If you chose the last answer you’d be correct. What is that something? Well, it’s torque, of course. How does torque explain the effort we must apply to overcome the resistance in any given exercise? How does torque influence the way an exercise feels? Listen to this episode and discover how!
In this episode we discuss:
- How biomechanics influence our exercise experience
- Torque
- Levers
- Line of force
- Effort vs resistance
- Axis of rotation
- Moment arms
- Ground reaction forces
Glossary:
Axis of rotation - a line, perpendicular to the plane around which a lever rotates
Biomechanics - the field of science that focuses on mechanical laws and their influence on movement and structure of living organisms
Ground reaction forces - the force, exerted by the ground, against an object in contact with it
Lever - a rigid body through which force is applied
Line of force - a line representing the direction along which force is applied
Moment arm - the shortest perpendicular distance from the line of force to the axis of rotation
Torque - a twisting force that tends to cause rotation
You might also like:
- S1, E7 - “The Fine Print 1” https://www.thinkfitbefitpodcast.com/the-fine-print-1/
