Isolated hamstrings fatigue alters hip and knee joint coordination during a cutting maneuver

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of hamstrings fatigue on lower extremity joint coordination variability during a sidestep cutting maneuver. Twenty female recreational athletes performed five successful trials of a sidestep cutting task pre- and postfatigue. Each participant completed an isolated hamstrings fatigue protocol consisting of isokinetic maximum effort knee flexion and passive extension contractions. Vector coding was used to examine hip and knee joint couplings (consisting of various planar motions) during the impact and weight acceptance phases of the sidestep cut stance phase. Paired t tests were used to analyze differences of each phase as an effect of fatigue, where alpha was set a priori at .05. The hip rotation/knee rotation coupling exhibited a significant decrease in coordination variability as a function of fatigue in both the impact (P = .015) and weight acceptance phases (P = .043). Similarly, the hip adduction-abduction/knee rotation coupling exhibited a significant decrease in coordination variability in the weight acceptance phase (P = .038). Hamstrings fatigue significantly decreased coordination variability within specific lower extremity joint couplings that included knee rotation. Future studies should be conducted to determine if this decrease in coordination variability is related to lower extremity injury mechanisms.