Submitted: 07 August, 2021 Accepted: 23 August, 2021 Published: 30 September, 2021 DOI:10.31083/jomh.2021.

105

Editorial

Sports biomechanics: monitoring health and

performance
Pedro Forte1,2,3,† , Henrique P. Neiva2,4, *,† , Daniel A. Marinho2,4,†
1 Department of Sports Sciences, Douro Higher Institute of Educational Sciences, 4560-708 Penafiel, Portugal
2 ResearchCenter in Sports, Health and Human Development, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal
3 Department of Physical Education and Sports, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, 5300-253 Bragnaça, Portugal
4 Department of Sports Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6201-001 Covilhã, Portugal

*Correspondence: hpn@ubi.pt (Henrique P. Neiva)

†
These authors contributed equally.

Biomechanics is part of biophysics and aims to study the this, biomechanics seeks to achieve the best efficiency path
function and structure of biological systems based on the for each athlete, specifically, performing a physical task with
principles, laws, and methods of mechanics. The human lower energy cost. Furthermore, body impact and load dis-
body is a dynamic system in constant change, with internal tributions during physical exercise might result in overuse
(physiological) and external effects (mechanical). From an and/or stress injuries [6, 11]. The repetition of a movement
external point of view, every action/movement results from with inadequate technique may result in muscle-skeletal in-
forces produced by the subject and by external forces acting juries, forcing the exercise to stop and leading to longer
on him/her. The study of these forces and their effects, such or shorter periods of inactivity. This compulsory exercise
as movement, absence of movement, and deformations is the interruption will have health or performance implications
main focus of biomechanics. The amount of forces that act [12]. Biomechanical professionals should be concerned about
on the human system in each movement will also result in movement techniques, such as body alignment and articula-
an internal response, so the higher the mechanical stress, tion positions during exercise, and also provide the necessary
the greater the physiological impact [1]. This association feedback to the technical team, so that load and physiological
is observed in every physical or sports activity, highlighting impact are better controlled and according to the exercise
the importance of biomechanics for a better understanding purpose. This would prevent overtraining that could also
of the physiological response to exercise [2, 3]. When a compromise the athletes’ health [1]. Again, biomechanics can
sports professional is concerned by how the available energy be important to prevent the overtraining phenomenon and
is used to exercise at a specific intensity/volume, causing a preserve a good state of well-being.
chain of intersegmental movements, he/she is facing biome- The areas of application of biomechanics are essentially
chanical issues. The boundary of the object of study between developed around the technique of sports movement, equip-
biomechanics and physiology in sport is so tangential that ment and materials, as well as the prevention/attenuation
it is sometimes confused [4, 5]. In this way, biomechanical of sports injuries [13]. For these, physical activities and
analysis can help to control physical demands and explain the sports demands are assessed using a set of technology sys-
athlete’s state of well-being [6]. Therefore, it will play an tems. Technology such as pedometers, accelerometers, global
important role in sports performance and the participants’ positioning system (GPS), micro-electromechanical systems
health, in which mechanics and physiology are combined in (MEMS), local position measurement (LPM), and computer-
sports biomechanics [7]. ized video systems, allows the assessment of human move-
We can only understand the sport and be better pro- ment behavior [1, 9, 14]. Variables such as the number of
fessionals by better understanding the human movement. steps, counts, distances, velocity, acceleration/deceleration,
Therefore, sports biomechanics plays a key role in explaining time-motion analysis, neuromuscular function, angles and
performance results and reasons for success. Most research qualitative analysis are used to describe and quantify hu-
analyzing sports and exercise performance focus on kinetic, man movement intensity. Based on mechanical variables,
kinematics, and physiological variables [7–10]. Kinematics is a physiological impact is explained and predicted. Thus,
responsible for describing and explaining human movement; heart rate, lactate levels, oxygen consumption, and other
kinetics explains the mechanical reason for the movement subjective measures, such as perceived exertion and well-
to occur, that is, how much the force produced influences being questionnaires are explained by the variables presented
the movement; and physiology aims to assess the human above [15].
body’s internal response (e.g., metabolic impact). Based on

This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

J Mens Health 2021 vol.17(4), 4-6 ©2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press. https://www.jomh.org
 5

As previously mentioned, biomechanics uses several tech- variables will be of valuable interest regarding sports
nological instruments to assess athlete’s performance. Those biomechanics.
instruments may evaluate single or multiple variables and
new methods have been created in recent years. Thus, future Author contributions
research may focus on creating and testing new technologies
to assess biomechanics regarding athletes’ performance and HPN and DAM designed the research study. PF wrote the
health. Researchers may seek simple, easy, and inexpensive manuscript. All authors contributed to editorial changes in
methods to help coaches and analysts evaluate practitioners the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final
with valid and precise data. That said, different evaluation manuscript.
methods must be compared and tested for different purposes
[16, 17]. Ethics approval and consent to participate
Typically, biomechanical analyses are made by: observa- Not applicable.
tional and qualitative methods, based on visual analysis [18];
video and photogrammetry analysis, in which kinematic vari-
Acknowledgment
ables (time, velocity, position, distance) are assessed [9, 19];
experimental tests, in which different instruments, such as Not applicable.
force plate, ergojump, speedometer, encoder, force sensors,
radars, wind tunnels, inertial devices, and other tools, allow Funding
gathering information about kinetic and kinematic variables;
and analytical procedures, which are a set of equations that This work was supported Portuguese Foundation for Science
typically permit to compute or estimate kinetics, kinematics, and Technology, I.P. (project UIDB04045/2021).
and performance [1, 20–23]. However, it is necessary to
compare these different methods and to provide information Conflict of interest
about validity, accuracy, and reliability. So, testing different
methods can be an important issue to support the choices The authors declare no conflict of interest.
of coaches and analysts when deciding how to assess the
biomechanics and health status of athletes. References
The analytical procedures may be the fastest and easi- [1] Teixeira JE, Forte P, Ferraz R, Leal M, Ribeiro J, Silva AJ, et al.
est way to gather insights about athletes’ biomechanics dur- Monitoring Accumulated Training and Match Load in Football: A
ing training and competition [8]. Some studies have com- Systematic Review. International Journal of Environmental Research
pared analytical procedures with experimental and numerical and Public Health. 2021; 18: 3906.
[2] Impellizzeri FM, Marcora SM, Coutts AJ. Internal and External
methods [16, 17]; however, more comparisons are required.
Training Load: 15 Years on. International Journal of Sports Physiology
For instance, regarding cycling, there is a trend related to and Performance. 2019; 14: 270–273.
comparing the biomechanics of disabled and non-disabled [3] Reilly T. The Science of Training-Soccer. A Scientific Approach
athletes [24, 25]. This trend can be observed in differ- to Developing Strength, Speed and Endurance. 1st edn. Routledge:
ent sports and contexts [10]. Moreover, the 2020 Olympic London. 2006.
Games introduced new sports in which biomechanics anal- [4] Moore IS. Is there an Economical Running Technique? A Review
of Modifiable Biomechanical Factors Affecting Running Economy.
ysis will be worthy of scientific knowledge, and novelty will Sports Medicine. 2016; 46: 793–807.
characterize these future studies. [5] Hamill J, Knutzen KM, Derrick TR. Biomechanics: 40 Years on.
Biomechanical intervention should also be noteworthy Kinesiology Review. 2021; 10: 228–237.
[6] Drew MK, Finch CF. The Relationship between Training Load and
concerning health issues, with an emphasis on research
Injury, Illness and Soreness: a Systematic and Literature Review.
related to aging. Typically, functional fitness and quality Sports Medicine. 2016; 46: 861–883.
of life are areas of interest in the research field [26–28]. [7] Forte P, Marinho DA, Morais JE, Morouço PG, Barbosa TM.
Some measures included the number of repetitions, distance, Estimation of mechanical power and energy cost in elite wheelchair
velocity, time, strength, resistance, and flexibility measures. racing by analytical procedures and numerical simulations. Computer
Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering. 2018; 21: 585–
Through this, the intensity of the training sessions in the
592.
elderly is controlled by biomechanics variables. Different [8] Barbosa TM, Morais JE, Forte P, Neiva H, Garrido ND, Marinho DA.
training programs may help to improve elderlies’ functional A Comparison of Experimental and Analytical Procedures to Measure
fitness and thus the ability to perform daily life activities [29]. Passive Drag in Human Swimming. PLoS ONE. 2015; 10: e0130868.
The greater the ability to perform daily life activities, the [9] Morais JE, Barbosa TM, Forte P, Bragada JA, Castro FAS, Marinho
DA. Stability analysis and prediction of pacing in elite 1500 m freestyle
better the quality of life is, so testing the effects of physical
male swimmers. Sports Biomechanics. 2020. (in press)
activity or training on biomechanics variables will be of [10] Forte P, Marinho DA, Silveira R, Barbosa TM, Morais JE. The
high interest regarding the health of the elderly [28]. This Aerodynamics and Energy Cost Assessment of an Able-Bodied Cyclist
article provided a wide range of biomechanical applications and Amputated Models by Computer Fluid Dynamics. Medicina. 2020;
regarding sportsmen’s health and performance. Therefore, 56: 241.
research with young people, adults, and the elderly, and
methods, comparisons, and associations between different
6

[11] Teixeira JE, Forte P, Ferraz R, Leal M, Ribeiro J, Silva AJ, et al. [21] Forte P, Marinho DA, Barbosa TM, Morouço P, Morais JE. Estimation
Quantifying Sub-Elite Youth Football Weekly Training Load and of an Elite Road Cyclist Performance in Different Positions Based
Recovery Variation. Applied Sciences. 2021; 11: 4871. on Numerical Simulations and Analytical Procedures. Frontiers in
[12] Sousa AC, Neiva HP, Izquierdo M, Cadore EL, Alves AR, Marinho DA. Bioengineering and Biotechnology. 2020; 8: 1–9.
Concurrent Training and Detraining: brief Review on the Effect of [22] Defraeye T, Blocken B, Koninckx E, Hespel P, Carmeliet J. Aerody-
Exercise Intensities. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2019; namic study of different cyclist positions: CFD analysis and full-scale
40: 747–755. wind-tunnel tests. Journal of Biomechanics. 2010; 43: 1262–1268.
[13] Hawkins D, Metheny J. Overuse injuries in youth sports: biomechani- [23] Ribeiro B, Pereira A, Alves A, Neves P, Marques M, Marinho D, et
cal considerations. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 2001; al. Specific warm-up enhances movement velocity during bench press
33: 1701–1707. and squat resistance training. Journal of Men’s Health. 2021. (in press)
[14] Morais JE, Barbosa TM, Forte P, Pinto JN, Marinho DA. Assessment of [24] Forte P, Morais JE, Barbosa TM, Marinho DA. Assessment of Able-
the inter-lap stability and relationship between the race time and start, Bodied and Amputee Cyclists’ Aerodynamics by Computational Fluid
clean swim, turn and finish variables in elite male junior swimmers’ Dynamics. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. 2021; 9:
200 m freestyle. Sports Biomechanics. 2021. (in press) 163.
[15] Bourdon PC, Cardinale M, Murray A, Gastin P, Kellmann M, Varley [25] Forte P, Marinho DA, Morais JE, Morouço PG, Barbosa TM. The
MC, et al. Monitoring Athlete Training Loads: Consensus Statement. variations on the aerodynamics of a world-ranked wheelchair sprinter
International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2017; 12: in the key-moments of the stroke cycle: a numerical simulation
S2–170. analysis. PLoS ONE. 2018; 13: e0193658.
[16] Barbosa TM, Ramos R, Silva AJ, Marinho DA. Assessment of passive [26] Monteiro AM, Forte P, Carvalho J, Barbosa TM, Morais JE. Rela-
drag in swimming by numerical simulation and analytical procedure. tionship between fear of falling and balance factors in healthy elderly
Journal of Sports Sciences. 2018; 36: 492–498. women: a confirmatory analysis. Journal of Women & Aging. 2021;
[17] Forte P, Marinho DA, Nikolaidis PT, Knechtle B, Barbosa TM, Morais 33: 57–69.
JE. Analysis of cyclist’s drag on the aero position using numerical [27] Monteiro A, Bartolomeu R, Forte P, Carvalho J. The effects of three
simulations and analytical procedures: A case study. International different types of training in functional fitness and body composition
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17: 3430. in older women. Journal of Sport and Health Research. 2019; 11: 289–
[18] Alves ME, Marinho DA, Carneiro DN, Alves J, Forte P, Nevill AM, et 304.
al. A Visual Scan Analysis Protocol for Postural Assessment at School [28] Monteiro AM, Forte P, Carvalho MJ. The effect of three different
in Young Students. International Journal of Environmental Research training programs in elderly women’s isokinetic strength. Motricidade.
and Public Health. 2020; 17: 2915. 2020; 16: 84–93.
[19] Forte P, Morais J, Barbosa T, Reis A. Análise da Magnitude das [29] Monteiro A, Silva P, Forte P, Carvalho J. The effects of daily physical
Assimetrias Posturais em Crianças e Jovens Futebolistas. Revista activity on functional fitness, isokinetic strength and body composition
Brasileira de Futebol. 2020; 13: 3–16. (In Portuguese) in elderly community-dwelling women. Journal of Human Sport and
[20] Barbosa TM, Forte P, Marinho DA, Reis VM. Comparison of the Exercise. 2019; 14: 385–398.
World and European Records in the 100m Dash by a Quasi-Physical
Model. Procedia Engineering. 2016; 147: 122–126.