Knee Rehabilitation Exercises Research Articles

Isolation of the vastus medialis oblique muscle during exercise.

The purpose of this study was to selectively challenge the vastus medialis oblique muscle in comparison with the vastus lateralis, the vastus intermedius, and the vastus medialis longus muscles by performing nine sets of strengthening exercises. These knee rehabilitation exercise included isometric knee extension with the hip at neutral, 30 degrees external, and 30 degrees internal rotation; isokinetic knee extension through full range; isokinetic knee extension in the terminal 30 degrees arc; sidelying ipsilateral and contralateral full knee extension; and stand and jump from full squat. Electrical activity of the vastus medialis oblique, the vastus lateralis, the vastus intermedius, and the vastus medialis longus muscles was measured in eight uninjured subjects. Our study showed that isometric exercises in neutral and external rotation of the hip will challenge both the vastus medialis oblique and the vastus lateralis muscles. The results suggest that the electromyographic activity of the vastus medialis oblique muscle was not significantly greater than that of the vastus lateralis, the vastus intermedius, and the vastus medialis longus muscles during the nine sets of exercises. Results suggest that the vastus medialis oblique muscle cannot be significantly isolated during these exercises.

Quantification of elastic resistance knee rehabilitation exercises.

Elastic resistance exercises are frequently used for knee rehabilitation following injury and/or surgery. The evidence supporting this mode of rehabilitation is primarily anecdotal, and no biomechanical assessment of elastic resistance exercises has been previously published. The purpose of this project was to quantify muscle activation levels, knee joint angles, and applied force during five rehabilitation exercises utilizing an elastic resistance device. Twelve subjects with no previous knee injury performed double knee dip, hamstring pull, leg press, single knee dip, and side-to-side jump exercises while sagittal plane kinematics, applied force from the elastic resistance device, and electromyographic activity of eight lower extremity muscles were collected. The muscle activation patterns suggest a progressive continuum of rehabilitation exercises that can be applied to nonoperative injuries as well as anterior cruciate ligament reconstructions.

Electromyographic Analysis of Knee Rehabilitation Exercises

Many exercises are used to strengthen the knee muscles, yet limited studies that evaluate the exercises exist. The purpose of this study was to describe and compare the muscle firing patterns in five knee muscles during five rehabilitative exercises, which were presumed either to strengthen a specific muscle group or to elicit a cocontraction. During short-arc knee extension, the medial and lateral vasti were significantly more active during the last 15 degrees of extension than during other arcs (p < .05). The short-arc knee extension with hamstring cocontraction demonstrated significantly more activity in the rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, and vastus lateralis than the biceps femoris and semimembranosus in the final 15 degrees of extension (p < .05). With isometric knee cocontractions, no significant difference in muscle activity occurred in any of the arcs tested. During squatting, the rectus femoris, vastus medialis oblique, and vastus lateralis were significantly more active than the biceps femoris and semimembranosus during the descending, holding, and arising phases (p < .05). This information offers suggestions in selecting optimal knee rehabilitation exercises.