scholarly journals Comparison of Hamstrings and Quadriceps Muscle Activation in Male and Female Professional Soccer Players

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 738
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Torres ◽  
Estrella Armada-Cortés ◽  
Javier Rueda ◽  
Alejandro F. San Juan ◽  
Enrique Navarro

(1) Background: this study aimed to determine if there are differences in quadriceps and hamstring muscle activation in professional male and female soccer players. (2) Methods: muscle activation was recorded by surface electromyography in 27 professional soccer players (19 male and 8 female). The players performed the Bulgarian squat and lunge exercises. Vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris were the muscles analyzed. (3) Results: The statistical analysis of the hamstring:quadriceps ratio showed no significant differences (p > 0.05). Significant differences were found in the vastus medialis:vastus lateralis ratio for both the lunge exercise (t20 = 3.35; p = 0.001; d = 1.42) and the Bulgarian squat (t23 = 4.15; p < 0.001; d = 1.76). For the intragroup muscular pattern in the lunge and Bulgarian squat exercises, the female players showed higher activation for the vastus lateralis muscle (p < 0.001) than the male players and lower muscle activation in the vastus medialis. No significant differences were found in the rectus femoris, biceps remoris, and semitendinosus muscles (p > 0.05). (4) Conclusions: Differences were found in the medial ratio (vastus medialis: vastus lateralis). Moreover, regarding the intramuscular pattern, very consistent patterns have been found. In the quadriceps muscle: VM>VL>RF; in the hamstring muscle: ST>BF. These patterns could be very useful in the recovery process from an injury to return players to their highest performance.

Author(s):  
Isabel Martín-Fuentes ◽  
José M. Oliva-Lozano ◽  
José M. Muyor

The aim of this study was to analyze the literature on muscle activation measured by surface electromyography (sEMG) of the muscles recruited when performing the leg press exercise and its variants. The Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed to report this review. The search was carried out using the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases. The articles selected met the following inclusion criteria: (a) a cross-sectional or longitudinal study design; (b) neuromuscular activation assessed during the leg press exercise, or its variants; (c) muscle activation data collected using sEMG; and (d) study samples comprising healthy and trained participants. The main findings indicate that the leg press exercise elicited the greatest sEMG activity from the quadriceps muscle complex, which was shown to be greater as the knee flexion angle increased. In conclusion, (1) the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis elicited the greatest muscle activation during the leg press exercise, followed closely by the rectus femoris; (2) the biceps femoris and the gastrocnemius medialis showed greater muscular activity as the knee reached full extension, whereas the vastus lateralis and medialis, the rectus femoris, and the tibialis anterior showed a decreasing muscular activity pattern as the knee reached full extension; (3) evidence on the influence of kinematics modifications over sEMG during leg press variants is still not compelling as very few studies match their findings.


2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (4) ◽  
pp. 1487-1493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romuald Lepers ◽  
Nicola A. Maffiuletti ◽  
Ludovic Rochette ◽  
Julien Brugniaux ◽  
Guillaume Y. Millet

The effects of prolonged cycling on neuromuscular parameters were studied in nine endurance-trained subjects during a 5-h exercise sustained at 55% of the maximal aerobic power. Torque during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of the quadriceps muscle decreased progressively throughout the exercise ( P < 0.01) and was 18% less at the end of exercise compared with the preexercise value. Peak twitch torque, contraction time, and total area of mechanical response decreased significantly ( P < 0.05) after the first hour of exercise. In contrast, changes in M-wave characteristics were significant only after the fourth hour of the exercise. Significant reductions ( P < 0.05) in electromyographic activity normalized to the M wave occurred after the first hour for the vastus lateralis muscle but only at the end of the exercise for the vastus medialis muscle. Muscle activation level, assessed by the twitch interpolation technique, decreased by 8% ( P < 0.05) at the end of the exercise. The results suggest that the time course is such that the contractile properties are significantly altered after the first hour, whereas excitability and central drive are more impaired toward the latter stages of the 5-h cycling exercise.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1615
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Torres ◽  
David Chorro ◽  
Archit Navandar ◽  
Javier Rueda ◽  
Luís Fernández ◽  
...  

This study aimed to study the coactivation patterns of the hamstring and quadriceps muscle groups during submaximal strength exercises commonly used in injury prevention in soccer without the use of maximum voluntary isometric contraction testing. This was used to compare: (i) the inter-limb differences in muscle activation; (ii) the intra-muscular group activation pattern and (iii) the activation pattern during different phases of the exercise. Muscle activation was recorded by surface electromyography in 19 elite, male, youth soccer players. Participants performed the following: Bulgarian squat, lunge and squat. Electrical activity was recorded for the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and semitendinosus. No significant inter-limb differences were found (F1, 13 = 619; p = 0.82; η2 = 0.045). Significant differences were found in the muscle activation between individual muscles within the quadriceps and hamstrings muscle group for each of the exercises: Bulgarian squat (F1,18 = 331: p < 0.001; η2 = 0.80), lunge (F4,72 = 114.5; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.86) and squat (F1,16 = 247.31; p < 0.001; η2 = 0.93). Differences were found between the different phases of each of the exercises (F2,26 = 52.27; p = 0.02; η2 = 0.80). The existence of an activation pattern of each of the muscles in the three proposed exercises could be used for muscle assessment and as a tool for reconditioning post-injury.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 291-297
Author(s):  
G Freire da Silva ◽  
F Douglas Tourino ◽  
RC Ribeiro Diniz ◽  
L Túlio de Lacerda ◽  
HC Martins Costa ◽  
...  

Aim: The objective of the present study was to compare the amplitude of the electromyographic (EMG) signal of the quadriceps muscle portions vastus medialis (VM), vastus lateralis (VL) and rectus femoris (RF) and the activation ratio (VM/VL, VM/RF and VL/RF) in protocols with different durations of concentric and eccentric muscular actions. Material and method: Twelve female volunteers performed the knee extensor exercise with two different protocols [1s for concentric muscle action and 5s for eccentric muscle action (1:5); 5s of concentric muscle action and 1s of eccentric muscle action (5:1)] and 3 sets of 6 repetitions, 180s of pause between each sets and a intensity of 50% of 1RM. The root mean square of the amplitude of the normalized EMG signal was calculated for each repetition in each series. Results: it was observed an increase in the activation of the VM and VL portions in equivalent repetitions of each series and for the VL portion, the 1: 5 protocol provided greater activation compared to the other protocol. No differences were found for muscles activation ratios VM/RF and VL/RF, being that for the VM/VL ratio there was only change at one repetition. Conclusion: The results suggest that the portions of the quadriceps muscle may present different EMG responses in similar protocols, but this fact may not interfere in the synergism between them. The reduced degrees of freedom of the knee extension exercise and the characteristics of the protocols adopted may be the elements that contributed to the limited alterations that occurred in the present study.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (11_suppl3) ◽  
pp. 2325967114S0016
Author(s):  
Rafet Irmak ◽  
Ahsen Irmak ◽  
Gökhan Biçer

Objectives: In classical anatomy quadriceps muscle has four heads. Clinical studies have demostrated 6 heads of this muscle. These heads were demostrated seperately not only by their functional properties,but also by innervation and kinesiological properties. In our previous study we have developed and demostrated electrophysiological properties of vastus medialis obliquus by an electronic patient simulator. The purpose of this study is to develop a mechanical simulator which can be used to demostrate mechanical properties of 6 heads of quadriceps muscle and the screw home mechanism. Methods: Quadriceps femoris muscle has 6 heads: rectus femoris, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis obliquus, vastus medialis longus, vastus lateralis obliquus and vastus lateralis longus. The fundamental mechanical properties of each head is seperated by insersio and angle of pull. Main design principle was to demostrate all heads with insersio and angle of pull properties. Second design principle was to demostrate the screw-home mechanism which is the result of difference in articular surfaces of medial and lateral of condyles of femur. Results: Final design of the simulator consists of three planes for demostration of angle of pull and pulling forces (patellar plane, proximal and distal planes) of each heads. On each plane channels were graved as origo and insersio for demostration of angle of pull. Distal plane was movable for demostration of pulling forces in different angels of knee flexion and extention. Also proximal plane was adjustable to demostrate different sitting and standing positions. Srew home mechanism was demostrated by specially designed hingle mechanism. Left and right side hingle mechanisms have different radii as femoral condyles and this difference can cause rotation in terminal extension as in the screw home mechanism. Conclusion: Vastus medialis obliquus, vastus lateralis obliquus and screw-home mechanism have clinical significance. We were not able to find any study which deals with training of screw home mechanism and vastus medialis obliqus and wastus lateralis obliquus muscles in the literature. The purpose of this study was to develop a simulator which can demostrate mechanical properties of vastus medialis obliquus and vastus lateralis muscles and screw home mechanism. As a result a traning simulator with stated properties was developed. In this simulator force measurement is acheived with analog dynamometers and future studies may focus on improvement of this simulator with digital force measurement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-395
Author(s):  
Soojin Kim ◽  
Joo-Hyun Lee ◽  
Jihye Heo ◽  
Eunwook Chang

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare thigh muscle activities and muscle co-activation when performing squats, wall squats, and Spanish squats on stable and unstable ground.METHODS: Twenty-two healthy male subjects (age: 22.50±2.70 years, height: 178.72±6.04 cm, mass: 76.50±6.80 kg, body mass index: 24.00±2.10 kg/m2, and Godin activity questionnaire: 56.30±24.10) voluntarily participated in the study. All of the participants performed three different squat exercises on the floor and the BOSU ball with an electromyograph attached to each participant’s quadriceps (rectus femoris, RF; vastus lateralis, VL; and vastus medialis, VM) and hamstrings (biceps femoris, BF; semitendinosus, ST; and semimembranosus, SM). Repeated measures of analysis of variance were utilized to compare muscle activity during the three squats exercises by floor type.RESULTS: RF (p<.001, η2=.689), VL (p<.001, η2=.622), and VM (p=.002, η2=.375) showed significant differences between exercises. Spanish squats yielded greater BF activity than did wall squats (p=.018, η2=.269). ST yielded greater muscle activity with the BOSU ball than on the floor (p=.018, η2=.269). Finally, there was a significant ground exercise interaction effect on the co-activation, showing greater muscle co-activation with Spanish squats on the BOSU ball compared to squats, squats on the BOSU ball, and wall squat on the BOSU ball.CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that Spanish squats could be an effective exercise option for the facilitation of RF, VL, VM, and BF muscle activation. In particular, performing Spanish squats on an unstable surface could be useful for patients who need to improve their quadriceps muscle activation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-32
Author(s):  
Patrícia Dias Pantoja ◽  
André Mello ◽  
Giane Veiga Liedtke ◽  
Ana Carolina Kanitz ◽  
Eduardo Lusa Cadore ◽  
...  

AbstractThis study aimed to describe the neuromuscular activity of elite athletes who performed various roller figure skating jumps, to determine whether the muscle activation is greater during jumps with more rotations and in which phase the muscles are more active. This study also aimed to analyze if there is any difference in the muscle activity pattern between female and male skaters. Four elite skaters were evaluated, and each participated in two experimental sessions. During the first session, anthropometric data were collected, and the consent forms were signed. For the second session, neuromuscular data were collected during jumps, which were performed with skates at a rink. The following four roller figure skating jumps were evaluated: single Axel, double Axel, double Mapes and triple Mapes. The neuromuscular activity of the following seven muscles was obtained with an electromyograph which was fixed to the waist of each skater with a strap: biceps femoris, lateral gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and gluteus maximus. The signal was transmitted wirelessly to a laptop. During the roller figure skating jumps, the lateral gastrocnemius, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris and gluteus maximus, showed more activation during the jumps with more rotations, and the activation mainly occurred during the propulsion and flight phases. Female skaters demonstrated higher muscle activities in tibialis anterior, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis and gluteus maximus during the landing phase of the triple Mapes, when compared to their male counterparts. The results obtained in this study should be considered when planning training programs with specific exercises that closely resemble the roller figure skating jumps. This may be important for the success of elite skaters in competitions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Rodríguez-Ruiz ◽  
I. Diez-Vega ◽  
D. Rodríguez-Matoso ◽  
M. Fernandez-del-Valle ◽  
R. Sagastume ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to evaluate the normalized response speed (Vrn) of the knee musculature (flexor and extensor) in high competitive level volleyball players using tensiomyography (TMG) and to analyze the muscular response of the vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF) in accordance with the specific position they play in their teams. One hundred and sixty-six players (83 women and 83 men) were evaluated. They belonged to eight teams in the Spanish women’s superleague and eight in the Spanish men’s superleague. The use of Vrn allows avoiding possible sample imbalances due to anatomical and functional differences and demands. We found differences between Vrn in each of the muscles responsible for extension (VM, RF, and VL) and flexion (BF) regardless of the sex. Normalized response speed differences seem to be larger in setters, liberos and outside players compared to middle blockers and larger in males when compared to females. These results of Vrn might respond to the differences in the physical and technical demands of each specific position, showing an improved balance response of the knee extensor and flexor musculature in male professional volleyball players.


Author(s):  
Isabel Martín-Fuentes ◽  
José M. Oliva-Lozano ◽  
José M. Muyor

Knee joint muscle activation imbalances, especially weakness in the vastus medialis oblique, are related to patellofemoral pain within the female population. The available literature presents the leg press as an exercise which potentially targets vastus medialis oblique activation, thus reducing imbalances in the quadriceps muscles. The main aim of the present study was to compare thigh muscle activation and kinematic parameters under different conditions during the inclined leg press exercise in a young female population. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 10 young, trained females. Muscle activation of the vastus medialis oblique, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris and gluteus medialis was analyzed under five different inclined leg press conditions, modifying the feet rotation (0–45° external rotation) and the stance width (100–150% hip width) on the footplate. All the conditions were performed at two different movement velocities: controlled velocity (2″ eccentric–2″ concentric) and maximal intended velocity. Mean propulsive velocity, maximum velocity and maximum power were also assessed. The results show that both controlled velocity conditions and maximal intended velocity conditions elicited a similar muscle activation pattern with greater activation during the concentric phase (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.96). The maximal intended velocity conditions showed greater overall muscle activation (p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.91). The vastus medialis oblique presented the greatest muscle activation, followed by the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and, the gluteus medialis. Furthermore, the inclined leg press condition with 0º feet rotation, 100% hip width distance and the maximal intended velocity generated the greatest kinematic parameter outputs. In conclusion, the inclined leg press exercise might be an optimal exercise to target vastus medialis activation regardless of the feet rotation and stance width conditions.


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