Abstract
The transcutaneous stimulation of lower limb muscles during indoor rowing (FES Rowing) has led to a new sport and recreation and significantly increased health benefits in paraplegia. Stimulation is often delivered to quadriceps and hamstrings; this muscle selection seems based on intuition and not biomechanics and is likely suboptimal. Here, we sample surface EMGs from 20 elite rowers to assess which, when, and how muscles are activated during indoor rowing. From EMG amplitude we specifically quantified the onset of activation and silencing, the duration of activity and how similarly soleus, gastrocnemius medialis, tibialis anterior, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and medialis, semitendinosus, and biceps femoris muscles were activated between limbs. Current results revealed that the eight muscles tested were recruited during rowing, at different instants and for different durations. Rectus and biceps femoris were respectively active for the longest and briefest periods. Tibialis anterior was the only muscle recruited within the recovery phase. No side differences in the timing of muscle activity were observed. Regression analysis further revealed similar, bilateral modulation of activity. The relevance of these results in determining which muscles to target during FES Rowing is discussed. Here, we suggest a new strategy based on the stimulation of vasti and soleus during drive and of tibialis anterior during recovery.
Highlights
With the aid of functional electrical stimulation (FES), people with spinal cord injury can exercise at intensities greater than those associated with upper body exercising alone [1,2]
EMGs bilaterally to assess which,from when, how revealed all muscles in in both legsstudy are activated during indoor rowing
Our results indicate all leg muscles assessed were recruited at some point during the rowing cycle
Summary
With the aid of functional electrical stimulation (FES), people with spinal cord injury can exercise at intensities greater than those associated with upper body exercising alone [1,2]. In FES-Rowing studies, the cyclic flexion-extension of the knee has been respectively achieved through stimulation of quadriceps and hamstrings [1,3,7,8]; often though, the specific quadriceps and hamstrings muscles considered for stimulation are not reported The stimulation of these two muscle groups was likely intuitively. Given the evidence on side differences in the degree of activity of back muscles during indoor rowing [12,17], we further assess whether the timing and modulation of EMG amplitude differs between legs At this stage in our research, we exclusively assess the leg muscles because, at the moment, the trunk is constrained during FES-Rowing.
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