The Influence of Saracen Archery Grasping Techniques and Forearm Muscles Activation on Shooting Performance in Traditional Archery: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of four grasping techniques recommended by Saracen Archery and associated forearm muscles activation on traditional archer’s shooting performance. Each archer has shot 6 arrows in each grasping technique to the target, EMG activities of muscle Flexor Digitorum Superficialis (MFDS) and muscle Extensor Digitorum (MED) were collected in bow arm during aiming phase. The shooting performance was indicated by the distance from arrow hitting point on the target to the bull’s eye. The results revealed that each subject has specific grasping technique to obtain the best shooting performance. The grasping technique that generated the best performance is not as recommended by Saracen Archery. All subjects indicated that the best shooting performance was obtained when MED activated more than MFDS.

An electromyographic assessment pilot study on the reliability of the forearm muscles during multi-planar maximum voluntary contraction grip and wrist articulation in young males

BACKGROUND: Electromyographic systems are widely used in scientific and clinical practice. The reproducibility and reliability of these measures are crucial when conducting scientific research and collecting experimental data.

Effects of Traditional Chinese Acupuncture Compared with Sham Acupuncture on the Explosive Force Production by the Forearm Muscles in Female: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background. Acupuncture can effectively enhance musculoskeletal rehabilitation, with effects such as reduced pain intensity and muscle tension and decreased disability. Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA) compared with sham acupuncture (SA) in explosive force production by the forearm muscles in females. Methods. A total of 32 subjects were included and randomly assigned to two groups: TCA group (n = 16): stimulated specific acupoints including Quchi (LI11), Shousanli (LI10), Hegu (LI4), Xiaohai (SI8), Tianjing (SJ10), and Waiguan (SJ5) for 15 minutes; SA group (n = 16): using superficial needle insertion at nonacupoints without stimulation. The subjects warmed up for the 3-time isokinetic test with an angular velocity of 30°/s and then performed a set of 15 full flexion (Flex) and extension (Ext) with an angular velocity of 180°/s using the CON-TREX isokinetic test training system recorded as the pretest. After acupuncture for 15 min, perform a set of the same isokinetic movement isokinetic records as the posttest. The average max torque, average work, average power, average peak power, average max speed, and total work were collected to evaluate the forearm explosive force changes. Use two-way repeated measures ANOVA to compare the difference before and after acupuncture between two groups. Results. The results showed that acupuncture conditions (sham acupuncture as well as true acupuncture) and the intervention times (not acupuncture or acupuncture for 15 min) have a significant interaction effect on forearm explosive force and joint stiffness ( P < 0.05 ). The simple main effect showed that the selected parameters of the TCA group increased significantly after acupuncture ( P < 0.05 ), while the SA group did not ( P > 0.05 ). We speculate that the activation of muscle may be related to the selected acupuncture points. Conclusion. Acupuncture can produce excitation in motor nerves and muscles, and nerve stimulation increases the recruitment of motor units, thus improving the muscle explosive force.

Muscle Fatigue When Riding a Motorcycle: A Case Study

This case study was conducted to assess muscle pattern, as measured by surface electromyography (sEMG), and its changes during a controlled superbike closed-road track training session. The sEMG signals were recorded unilaterally from biceps brachii (BB), triceps brachii (TB), anterior and posterior part of the deltoid (DA and DP respectively), flexor digitorum superficialis (FS), extensor carpi radialis (CR), extensor digitorum communis (ED) and pectoralis major (PM) during three rounds of 30 min. sEMG signals selected for analysis came from the beginning of the braking action to the way-out of the curves of interest. Considering the laps and rounds as a whole and focusing on the forearm muscles, ED was more systematically (84%) assigned to a state of fatigue than FS (44%) and CR (39%). On the opposite, the TB and DP muscles showed a predominant state of force increase (72%). Whereas the BB showed alternatively a state of fatigue or force increase depending on the side of the curve, when taking into account only the sharpest curves, it showed a predominant state of force increase. In conclusion, the fact that forearm muscles must endure a long-lasting maintenance of considerable activity levels explains why they easily got into a state of fatigue. Moreover, TB and DA are particularly relevant when cornering.

Forearm and hand muscles exhibit high coactivation and overlapping of cortical motor representations

Most of the motor mapping procedures using navigated transcranial magnetic stimualiton (nTMS) follows the conventional somatotopic organization of the primary motor cortex (M1) by assessesing the representation of a particular target muscle, disregarding the possible coactivation of synergistic muscles. In turn, multiple reports describe a functional organization of the M1 with an overlapping among motor representations acting together to execute movements. In this context, the overlap degree among cortical representations of synergistic hand and forearm muscles remains an open question. This study aimed to evaluate the muscle coactivation and representation overlapping common to the grasping movement and its dependence on the mapping parameters. The nTMS motor maps were obtained from one carpal muscle and two intrinsic hand muscles during rest. We quantified the overlappig motor maps in terms of the size (area and volume overlap degree) and topography (similarity and centroid's Euclidian distance) parameters. We demonstrated that these muscle representations are highly overlapped and similar in shape. The overlap degrees involving the forearm muscles were significantly higher than only among the intrinsic hand muscles. Moreover, the stimulation intensity had a stronger effect on the size compared to the topography parameters. Our study contributes to a more detailed cortical motor representation towards a synergistic, functional arrangement of M1. Understanding the muscle group coactivation may provide more accurate motor maps when delineating the eloquent brain tissue during pre-surgical planning.

Anatomical aspects of the forearm muscles of Myrmecophaga tridactyla

The giant anteater is one of the species classified as vulnerable to extinction. Burning and being run over are among important causes in the decrease of individuals of this species and a better knowledge of the anatomy of these animals can contribute to the treatment of injured animals and their restoration to the environment. Thus, the objective of this work was to describe aspects of the anatomy of the muscles of the forearm of M. tridactyla. For this purpose, six adult specimens were used, three females and three males. The corpses were fixed with a 10% formaldehyde solution and preserved in vats contai-ning the same solution. The thoracic limbs were dissected by routine dissection techniques. The forearm muscles of M. tridac-tyla were: brachioradialis; radial carpal extensor; common finger extensor; lateral finger extensor, ulnar carpal extensor; finger extensor I and II; long abductor of finger I; supinator, radial carpal flexor; ulnar flexor of the carpus, superficial flexor of the fingers, deep flexor of the fingers, pronator teres and square pronator, which were innervated by the radial, ulnar and median nerves. These muscles give a large volume to the forearm, are robust and have highly developed tendons, especially those invol-ved with the flexion of the carpus, digits and elbow, actions that are fundamental to your defense habits and search for food.