Muscular Activity of Lower Extremity Muscles Running on Treadmill Compared with Different Overground Surfaces

Lin Wang¹, Youlian Hong² and Jing Xian Li^3,

¹School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China

²Department of Sports Medicine, Chengdu Sports University, Chengdu, China

³School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada

Cite this paper

Lin Wang, Youlian Hong and Jing Xian Li. Muscular Activity of Lower Extremity Muscles Running on Treadmill Compared with Different Overground Surfaces. American Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2014; 2(4):161-165. doi: 10.12691/AJSSM-2-4-8

Abstract

The objective of this study is to compare the muscular activity of lower extremity muscles while running on treadmill and on overground surfaces. A total of 13 experienced heel-to-toe runners participated in the study. Electromyographic (EMG) data of four lower extremity muscles, including rectus femoris, tibialis anterior, biceps femoris, and gastrocnemius, were collected using the Noraxon EMG system while running on a treadmill and on overground surfaces at a running speed of 3.8 m/s. The obtained data were then analyzed. In this study, throughout the stance phase, the EMG values in the rectus femoris (P<0.01) and the biceps femoris (P<0.05) were higher while running on overground surfaces than those on a treadmill. The EMG values in the rectus femoris (P<0.05) and the biceps femoris (P<0.05) were also higher on concrete than those on grass in the stance phase. Results showed that the muscle activity was significantly different in treadmill running than in overground running. The difference in muscle activity while running on different overground surfaces was also found in this study. Kinematic adjustment of the lower extremity may explain the EMG difference while running on different surfaces.

Keywords

running surfaces, muscular activity, Electromyographic, lower extremity, Biomechanics

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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