Muscle Activation Strategies at the Knee during Running and Cutting Maneuvers

In PP conditions, activation patterns appear to be selected to support the external loads experienced at the knee, e.g., medial muscles activated to resist applied valgus moments. Under UN conditions, there was no selective activation of muscles to counter the external knee load, with generalized co-contraction being the activation pattern adopted. These findings have implications for the etiology of noncontact knee ligament injuries.