Kinematics and Kinetics are areas of study in physics that can better help us understand how humans move (human biomechanics)

Biomechanics is something of a hot topic in the press these days. Simply put, biomechanics is the study of human motion. In order to minimise the risk of injury and improve sports performance athletes are turning to science to get the edge in their given field. The two branches of physics studies are

• Kinetics – looks specifically at how forces act on the body, things such as rotational motion and torque. 
• Kinematics – is the branch of mechanics that deals with the geometry of the motion of objects, including displacement, velocity, and acceleration.

Why does this matter?

Go back 5 years and the only thing coaches had to go off was anatomy books. This is fine for a static view of humans, but seeing as we’re constantly in motion understanding things like leverage and rotational force at a joint enables us to better understand exactly how exercises work and the forces they place on the body.

This is important for understanding exercise selection, working with injuries or simply understanding how limb length affects training. The study of biomechanics has started to completely change fitness. 

A real-world example of this is, the question of whether should your squat pass parallel? 

Back in the day, the goal standard answer would be yes, ass to the grass squatting is the best. But now we can see how much torque is created at each angle of ankle, knee and hip motion and we can see if velocity is equal at the different parts of the range. With this information, we can give specific advice to an individual based on their own body and goals.

Stay tuned next week for another instalment of Master the Basics and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I share exercise techniques, and show you how to maximise your training. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, if you have any questions I host a weekly Sunday Q&A session on my Instagram channel. Otherwise, please feel free to email me at andy@andyvincentpt.com. 

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