Abstract
The leg press exercise is one of the muscle exercises for the quadriceps femoris following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the tibial drawer force, muscle tension and differences in posture in leg press exercises. Joint angles were obtained from sagittal plane motion measurement and the reaction force of the foot was measured using a force plate. The tibial drawer force and the muscle tension were calculated using a musculoskeletal model. The results were as follows: The tibial drawer force acted as a posterior drawer force in every posture. The more upper body sat upright, the larger the action of the posterior drawer force. These results suggest that the leg press exercise is a safe exercise for the quadriceps femoris training without placing stress on the ACLs and that it is safer in a sitting position.
