Question

Please provide a detailed explanation of the musculature and articulations of a backsquat - The muscles, and joints involved, what joinnts the muscles are active at and what types of contractions that are going on. Please include active joints and if possible, please include the concentric/eccentric phases of this lift. Thank you so much.

Answer 1

This posture reduces the amount of hip and knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion needed to reach the full depth.

ACTIONS-

Knee Flexion: Decreasing the angle between the lower leg tibia, fibula and femur. This occurs when a person bends their knee, bringing their heel closer to their thigh or butt.

Hip Flexion: Decreasing the angle between the femur and pelvis. This occurs from a standing position when a person elevates their knee toward their abdomen femoral-on-pelvic hip rotation or when bending forward from the trunk, as if touching their toes pelvic-on-femoral rotation

Ankle Dorsiflexion: Flexion at the ankle in which the top of the foot (dorsal) is brought closer towards the shin.

multi-joint exercise designed to target many muscles of the lower body and lumbo-pelvic-hip complex (pelvis, low-back, and abdominals). The primary joint actions that occur during the backsquat include:

Eccentric (lowering) Phase

• Hip flexion
• Knee flexion
• Ankle dorsiflexion

Concentric (lifting) Phase

• Hip extension
• Knee extension
• Ankle plantarflexion

	Targeted muscle groups in backsquat
Agonist	Gluteus maximus Rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis oblique, vastus intermedius (quadriceps)
Synergists	Biceps femoris, semitendinosus, semimembranosus (hamstrings) Adductor magnus-  posterior fibers (inner thigh muscle Gastrocnemius, soleus Erector spinae (muscles along the spine and back)
Stabilizers	Rectus abdominis (six-pack abdominal muscle) Transversus abdominis, internal oblique, pelvic floor (deep abdominal muscles, close to the spine) External obliques