Unloading reaction during sudden ankle inversion in healthy adults

The purpose of this research study was to determine the dynamics of early human response from sudden ankle inversion (30° tilt). Changes in vertical ground reaction forces (GRFs) following trapdoor release in a group of healthy subjects were compared to those from the similar experiments using a chair with two U shaped steel legs and matched weights of the human subjects. The experiments with the chair were further repeated with additional foam paddings at their bases to introduce visco-elastic properties to legs of the chair. Following the trapdoor release a decrease in the vertical ground reaction force under the inverting leg and subsequent increase in the supporting leg were observed in both human and chair experiments. The short onset of changes in vertical GRFs in our experiments indicate that the dynamic features of early response following trapdoor release are primarily due to mechanical events and may not be significantly affected by the neuromuscular reaction of human subjects.