Surface EMG based muscle activity analysis for aerobic cyclist

Balasubramanian, Venkatesh; Jayaraman, Srinivasan

doi:10.1016/j.jbmt.2008.03.002

« Previous Next »Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies
Volume 13, Issue 1 , Pages 34-42, January 2009

Surface EMG based muscle activity analysis for aerobic cyclist

Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group (RBG), Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras, Chennai 600036, India

Received 14 November 2007; received in revised form 8 February 2008; accepted 16 March 2008.

Summary

In this study, we determined the muscle activity of aerobic cyclist on biceps brachii medial, trapezius medial, latissimus dorsi medial, and erector spinae muscles bilaterally during 30min of cycling. Thirteen male volunteers were chosen and placed in two groups (with and without low back pain (LBP)). Surface electromyography (sEMG) was recorded bilaterally from selected muscle groups for 30min of cycling for each subject. Statistical tests were performed to determine the difference in fatigue, using mean power frequency difference.

LBP group showed a significantly higher fatigue (p<0.05) in left biceps brachii medial when compared to the control group. High fatigue in the back muscles in the LBP group was not found; however, when linear regression was performed for these individuals, the data showed a possibility of worsening in their condition due to 30min of cycling.

Keywords: Surface electromyography (sEMG), Aerobic cycling, Low back pain (LBP), Muscle fatigue, Fitness training