Force ratio between agonist and antagonist muscles provides significant information about muscular equilibrium, which helps to detect musculoskeletal changes and to guide preventive and rehabilitation programs. Isokinetic dynamometry provides reliable values for muscle torque and subsequently on the force ratio between knee flexors and extensors. However, this method is not clinically accessible. A possible alternative to evaluate this force is the One-Repetition Maximum test (One-Rep Max or just 1-RM), which is the most commonly used test for dynamic force assessment. However, there is no report in the literature of the use of 1-RM test for the quantification of knee flexors and extensors ratio. For this reason, the objective of this study was to use the 1-RM test to measure the ratio between knee extensors and flexors in young adults in order to find reference values. The studied sample was composed of 80 young adults (40 men and 40 women), mean age of 22.21 (±3.58) years with no musculoskeletal injuries. They were submitted to the following procedure: IPAQ-short version, weighing and prognostic of 1-RM, warm-up, and unilateral 1-RM test (at the flexor and extensor machine). After the test application, the data were analyzed and the mean values for the ratio between agonist/antagonist found were 52.34% (±9.72) for men and 43.19% (±5.82) for women (which were significantly different between groups). The values found in the present study may be used as reference for asymptomatic individuals with similar age.
agonist ratio; isokinetic dynamometry; torque; quadriceps; hamstrings
