Vastus Medialis Activation during Knee Extension Exercises: Evidence for Exercise Prescription
Context:Knee extension exercise is an important part of knee rehabilitation. Clinicians prescribe non-weight bearing exercise initially and progress patients to weight bearing exercise once they can perform a straight leg raise (SLR).Objective:Compare VM activation during a SLR and weight bearing exercises.Design:One-way repeated measures design.Setting:University Laboratory.Subjects:Fifteen healthy subjects.Intervention:One SLR exercise and 6 weight-bearing knee extension exercises.Main Outcome Measures:Electromyographic amplitudes for the VM expressed as a percent maximum voluntary isometric contraction.Results:The SLR had greater activation than the single leg stance and bilateral squat exercises. The step-up and unilateral leg press exercises had the greatest activation.Conclusions:SLR performance can be an important indicator for exercise progression. These results provide foundational knowledge to assist clinicians with exercise prescription.