Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

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.