An Electromyographic Analysis of the Knee During Functional Activities: I. The Normal Profile

This study describes the fine-wire electromyographic profile of the normal knee. Twenty-two subjects with no prior history of knee injury volunteered for the study. Each subject had fine-wire electromyographic eval uation of 8 muscles (vastus medialis oblique, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, semim...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of sports medicine 1994-09, Vol.22 (5), p.645-650
Main Authors: Ciccotti, Michael G., Kerlan, Robert K., Perry, Jacquelin, Pink, Marilyn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of Daily Living
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Electromyography
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Knee
Knee Joint - physiology
Leg - physiology
Male
Motor ability
Muscle, Skeletal - physiology
Range of Motion, Articular
Reference Values
Running - physiology
Sports medicine
Vertebrates: body movement. Posture. Locomotion. Flight. Swimming. Physical exercise. Rest. Sports
Walking - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This study describes the fine-wire electromyographic profile of the normal knee. Twenty-two subjects with no prior history of knee injury volunteered for the study. Each subject had fine-wire electromyographic eval uation of 8 muscles (vastus medialis oblique, vastus lateralis, rectus femoris, semimembranosus, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles) while performing 7 functional activities. The percentage of maximum manual test for each muscle during each phase of the activities was used to deter mine means and standard deviations for the group. Walking and ramp and stair ascending and descending produced similar electromyographic profiles. Running and cross-cutting demonstrated unique electromyo graphic profiles with an overall higher muscle activity than the previous 5 activities. A quadriceps-hamstrings muscles' coordinated response was identified consis tently in each activity. These findings illustrate the in tegral nature of each of the 8 examined muscles in knee motion. Furthermore, this study demonstrates a coor dinated response of quadriceps-hamstrings muscles in the normal knee and may more thoroughly define the coordinated activity of these 2 antagonist muscle groups. Finally, this study provides a framework within which various knee conditions can be compared and from which specific rehabilitation recommendations can be generated.
ISSN:0363-5465
1552-3365
DOI:10.1177/036354659402200512