Thread by @ThomasRoth91

‼️The paradox of isometric strength testing‼️
Strength output is dependent on a lot of factors, one of them being at what joint angle the muscle has to work against a force.
@Retlouping @alisongrimaldi @PeterBrukner @JOSPT @NicolvanDyk @davidopar

Some muscles, we test at their "optimal" angle, whilst others we place at a less favourable angle for producing torque.

In the paper "Kinesiology of the hip - A focus on muscular action", by Neumann, Neumann has this to say about the abductor muscles: " Peak hip abduction torque occurs when the abductor muscles are nearly maximally elongated, in a position of 10 degrees of ❗️adduction❗️.

Paper:
jospt.org/doi/pdf/10.251…

This frontal plane position correspondence generally to the position of the hip joint when the body is in its single-limb support face of walking, exactly when these muscles are required to generate frontal plane stability of the hip.

Note that the plot is essentially linear, with the least torque produced at 40 degrees of abduction when the muscles are at their near full short (contracted) length.
‼️Paradoxically, this position is most often used to manually test the maximal strength of the hip abductors"‼️

Please excuse my ignorance, but why do we test for strength in a weak position?

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