The effect of knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor fatigue on dynamic balance in active elderly males

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor fatigue on dynamic balance among active elderly males. Fifteen healthy individuals having age of 72±6.57 years, height of 168.4±4.8 cm and weight of 70.5±7.4 kg without history of injuries at lower extremity, participated in this study. Knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor muscles fatigued with free sets of fifty repeated of knee extension and ankle plantar flexion loading with 50% of one repetition maximum (1RM), while four minutes rest applied between every set. Fatigue protocol applied for each muscle group after 72 hours rest at same environment condition. Star excursion balance test (SEBT) used to measure dynamic balance before and after applying fatigue protocol. Dependent and independent t-test used for data analysis in significant level 0.05. Significant differences shown between pre and post reaching distance using SEBT. The results also showed significant differences between decrease of reaching distance in SEBT after applying muscle fatigue protocols in knee extensor and ankle plantar flexor. Due to results, increasing lower limb muscle endurance, especially at knee, recommended for training program designitation for elderly subjects to achieve dynamic balance improvement.