2.3.1. Maximum Voluntary Contraction (MVC) Tests

After the standardized warm-up, the MVC tests for the knee extensors, knee flexors, and plantar flexors of the dominant leg were performed on an isokinetic dynamometer (CON-TREX^® Multijont, Duebendorf, Switzerland). For the knee extensor MVC, the participant was seated on the dynamometer with both hip and knee angles of 110° ([12]; 180° = anatomical zero [13]). For the knee flexor MVC, the participant was positioned supine on the dynamometer with hip and knee angles of 90° and 110°, respectively. For the plantar flexor MVC, the participant lay prone on the dynamometer and the ankle angle was set to 90° ([14]; 90° = anatomical zero).

A laser was used to align the center of rotation at the dynamometer and the joint axis of the knee and ankle. In each position, the trunk and test leg were fixed with straps to minimize evasive movement. Three isometric MVCs of 5 s each, with a 1-min rest in between each attempt, were performed for each muscle group. The participant was instructed to push as hard as possible. The attempt with the highest torque value was taken for further analysis.