Activity Analysis: Driving a Car

Activity Analysis: Driving a Car

    Every day I drive my car, usually for lengthy periods of time due to my commute to and from school. When I place my foot on the gas pedal, my ankle moves from dorsiflexion into plantarflexion as I press down on the pedal to accelerate the car. These movements are performed in the sagittal plane around the frontal axis. As for the osteokinematics, the movement the ankle performs while driving (dorsiflexion to plantarflexion) would be described as an open kinetic chain because the distal portion of the foot is moving. For the arthrokinematics, when moving from dorsiflexion to plantarflexion the moving talus acts as the convex segment and rolls posteriorly and glides anteriorly on the concave distal portions of the tibia and fibia. The prime mover for ankle joint plantarflexion is the triceps surae, which includes both the medial and lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscles and the soleus that then leads into the Achilles tendon. The triceps surae (or Achilles tendon) when in plantarflexion is performing an concentric contraction.