Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate relationship between lower limb isokinetic strength and 60m sprint running time. Subjects: 9 male competitive Estonian sprinters (age 20.7 ± 2.6yrs, height 181.2 ± 5.7cm, mass 76.0 ± 7.1kg) volunteered to participate in the study. Methods: Peak torque of ankle plantar flexion, ankle dorsalflexion, knee and hipextension and flexion were measured with HUMAC NORM isokinetic dynamometer in angular speeds 60, 180 and 240°/s. The sprint performance, 60m from blocks (7.10 ± 0.13 sec), was fixed in competition conditions during the winter season 2013. The isokinetic testing took place shortly after the competition season. The correlations between relative isokinetic peak torque values corrected with body mass and sprint times were calculated. Results: Statistically significant relationship was found between isokinetic strength of ankle dorsiflexion, knee extension, hip extension and sprint running time. Statistically strongest relationships were found between average peak torque (Nm), average relative peak torque (Nm/kg) of hip flexion at 180°/s (r=-0.737; r=-0.818), at 240°/s (r=-0.719°/s; r=-0.805°/s) and sprint running time. Statistically less significant relationships were found between average peak torque, average relative peak torque of knee extension at 60°/s (r=-0.746; r=-0.679) and sprint running time. Statistically significant relationships werealso found between average peak torque of ankle dorsiflexion at 60°/s (r=-0.708), at 240°/s (r=-0.682) and sprint running time. No statistically significant relationships were found between isokinetic strength of ankle plantar flexion, knee flexion, hip extension and sprint running time. The main finding of the study is that in addition to extensors also dorsiflexors ankle stabilizers play a significant role in sprint performance.
© Copyright 2013 LASE Journal of Sport Science. Latvian Academy of Sport Education. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.