Top

Published in:

01-07-2009 | Original Article

Normalized EMG to normalized torque relationship of vastus intermedius muscle during isometric knee extension

Authors: Kohei Watanabe, Hiroshi Akima

Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology | Issue 5/2009

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the electromyography (EMG) to torque relationship of the vastus intermedius (VI) muscle. Thirteen healthy men performed maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and submaximal contraction during isometric knee extension at 10% of the MVC to 90% of the MVC at intervals of 10% of the MVC level. Surface EMG was detected from four muscle components of the QF muscle group, i.e., VI, vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis, and rectus femoris (RF) muscles. Normalized muscle activation in the VI muscle was significantly lower than in the VL muscle at a lower torque level (20 and 40% of MVC) and significantly lower compared to the RF muscle at a higher torque level (from 60 to 90% of MVC). These results suggest that neuromuscular activation in the VI muscle is not consistent with the other components of QF muscle group during submaximal knee extension contractions.

Akima H, Takahashi H, Kuno S, Katsuta S (2004) Coactivation pattern in human quadriceps during isokinetic knee-extension by muscle functional MRI. Eur J Appl Physiol 91:7–14. doi:10.1007/s00421-003-0942-z PubMedCrossRef

Akima H, Ushiyama J, Kubo J, Fukuoka H, Kanehisa H, Fukunaga T (2007) Effect of unloading on muscle volume with and without resistance training. Acta Astronaut 60:728–736. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2006.10.006 CrossRef

Alkner BA, Tesch PA, Berg HE (2000) Quadriceps EMG/force relationship in knee extension and leg press. Med Sci Sports Exerc 32:459–463. doi:10.1097/00005768-200002000-00030 PubMedCrossRef

Basmajian JV, DeLuca CJ (1985) Muscle Alive. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore

Basmajian JV, Harden TP, Regenos EM (1971) Integrated actions of four heads of quadriceps femoris: an electromyographic study. Anat Rec 172:15–20. doi:10.1002/ar.1091720102 CrossRef

Beck TW, Housh TJ, Cramer JT, Weir JP (2008) The effect of electrode placement and innervation zone location on the electromyographic amplitude and mean power frequency versus isometric torque relationship for vastus lateralis muscle. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 18:317–328. doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2006.10.006 PubMedCrossRef

Blazevich AJ, Gill ND, Zhou S (2006) Intra- and intermuscular variation in human quadriceps femoris architecture assessed in vivo. J Anat 209:289–310. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00619.x PubMedCrossRef

Bleck EE (1979) Orthopaedic management of cerebral palsy. In: Sledge CB (ed) Saunders monographs in clinical orthopaedics. W.B. Saunders company, Philadelphia

Bodine SC, Roy RR, Eldred E, Edgerton VR (1987) Maximal force as a function of anatomical features of motor units in the cat tibialis anterior. J Neurophysiol 57:1730–1745PubMed

Clark BC, Collier SR, Manini TM, Ploutz-Snyder LL (2005) Sex differences in muscle fatigability and activation patterns of the human quadriceps femoris. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 94:196–206. doi:10.1007/s00421-004-1293-0 CrossRef

De Luca CJ, LeFever RS, McCue MP, Xenakis AP (1982) Behaviour of human motor units in different muscles during linearly varying contractions. J Physiol 329:113–128PubMed

Ebenbichler G, Kollmitzer J, Quittan M, Uhl F, Kirtley C, Fialka V (1998) EMG patterns accompanying isometric fatiguing knee-extensions are different in mono- and bi-articular muscles. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 109:256–262. doi:10.1016/S0924-980X(98)00015-0 PubMedCrossRef

Edgerton VR, Smith JL, Simpson DR (1975) Muscle fibre type populations of human leg muscles. Histochem J 7:259–266. doi:10.1007/BF01003594 PubMedCrossRef

Eloranta V (1989) Patterning of muscle activity in static knee extension. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 29:369–375PubMed

Farina D, Merletti R, Enoka RM (2004a) The extraction of neural strategies from the surface EMG. J Appl Physiol 96:1486–1495. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01070.2003 PubMedCrossRef

Farina D, Merletti R, Stegeman DF (2004b) Biophysics of the generation of EMG signal. In: Merletti R, Parker P (eds) Electromyography, physiology, engineering, and noninvasive application. John Wiley Sons, Inc., Hoboken

Fuglevand AJ, Winter DA, Patla AE (1993) Models of recruitment and rate coding organization in motor-unit pools. J Neurophysiol 70:2470–2488PubMed

Fukunaga T, Miyatani M, Tachi M, Kouzaki M, Kawakami Y, Kanehisa H (2001) Muscle volume is a major determinant of joint torque in humans. Acta Physiol Scand 172:249–255. doi:10.1046/j.1365-201x.2001.00867.x PubMedCrossRef

Hakkinen K, Komi PV (1983) Electromyographic changes during strength training and detraining. Med Sci Sports Exerc 15:455–460. doi:10.1249/00005768-198315060-00003 PubMed

Henneman E, Somjen G, Carpenter DO (1965) Functional significance of cell size in spinal motoneurons. J Neurophysiol 28:560–580PubMed

Johnson MA, Polgar J, Weightman D, Appleton D (1973) Data on the distribution of fibre types in thirty-six human muscles an autopsy study. J Neurol Sci 18:111–129. doi:10.1016/0022-510X(73)90023-3 PubMedCrossRef

Kouzaki M, Shinohara M, Masani K, Kanehisa H, Fukunaga T (2002) Alternate muscle activity observed between knee extensor synergists during low-level sustained contractions. J Appl Physiol 93:675–684PubMed

Kukulka CG, Clamann HP (1981) Comparison of the recruitment and discharge properties of motor units in human brachial biceps and adductor pollicis during isometric contractions. Brain Res 219:45–55. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(81)90266-3 PubMedCrossRef

Lawrence JH, De Luca CJ (1983) Myoelectric signal versus force relationship in different human muscles. J Appl Physiol 54:1653–1659PubMed

Le Bozec S, Maton B, Cnockaert JC (1980) The synergy of elbow extensor muscles during dynamic work in man. I. Elbow extension. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 44:255–269. doi:10.1007/BF00421625 PubMedCrossRef

Li L (2004) Neuromuscular control and coordination during cycling. Res Q Exerc Sport 75:16–22PubMed

Lieb FJ, Perry J (1968) Quadriceps function: An anatomical and mechanical study using amputated limbs. J Bone Joint Surg 50A:1535–1548

Lieb FJ, Perry J (1971) Quadriceps function: an electromyographic study under isometric contraction. J Bone Joint Surg 53A:749–758

Maganaris CN, Baltzopoulos V, Ball D, Sargeant AJ (2001) In vivo specific tension of human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 90:865–872PubMed

Merletti R, Rainoldi A, Farina D (2001) Surface electromyography for noninvasive characterization of muscle. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 29:20–25. doi:10.1097/00003677-200101000-00005 PubMedCrossRef

Mesin L, Merletti R, Rainoldi A (2008) Surface EMG: The issue of electrode location. J Electromyogr Kinesiol

Montgomery WH 3rd, Pink M, Perry J (1994) Electromyographic analysis of hip and knee musculature during running. Am J Sports Med 22:272–278. doi:10.1177/036354659402200220 PubMedCrossRef

Moritani T, Muro M, Kijima A (1985) Electromechanical changes during electrically induced and maximal voluntary contractions: electrophysiologic responses of different muscle fiber types during stimulated contractions. Exp Neurol 88:471–483. doi:10.1016/0014-4886(85)90064-0 PubMedCrossRef

Nordander C, Willner J, Hansson GA, Larsson B, Unge J, Granquist L, Skerfving S (2003) Influence of the subcutaneous fat layer, as measured by ultrasound, skinfold calipers and BMI, on the EMG amplitude. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol 89:514–519. doi:10.1007/s00421-003-0819-1 CrossRef

Pincivero DM, Coelho AJ (2000) Activation linearity and parallelism of the superficial quadriceps across the isometric intensity spectrum. Muscle Nerve 23:393–398. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4598(200003)23:3<393::AID-MUS11>3.0.CO;2-P PubMedCrossRef

Pincivero DM, Green RC, Mark JD, Campy RM (2000) Gender and muscle differences in EMG amplitude and median frequency, and variability during maximal voluntary contractions of the quadriceps femoris. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 10:189–196. doi:10.1016/S1050-6411(00)00003-1 PubMedCrossRef

Pincivero DM, Campy RM, Salfetnikov Y, Bright A, Coelho AJ (2001) Influence of contraction intensity, muscle, and gender on median frequency of the quadriceps femoris. J Appl Physiol 90:804–810PubMed

Pincivero DM, Coelho AJ, Campy RM, Salfetnikov Y, Suter E (2003) Knee extensor torque and quadriceps femoris EMG during perceptually-guided isometric contractions. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 13:159–167. doi:10.1016/S1050-6411(02)00096-2 PubMedCrossRef

Pincivero DM, Salfetnikov Y, Compy RM, Coelho AJ (2004) Angle- and gender-specific quadriceps femoris muscle recruitment and knee extensor torque. J Biomech 37:1689–1697. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2004.02.005 PubMedCrossRef

Rainoldi A, Melchiorri G, Caruso I (2004) A method for positioning electrodes during surface EMG recordings in lower limb muscles. J Neurosci Methods 134:37–43. doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2003.10.014 PubMedCrossRef

Scott SH, Engstrom CM, Loeb GE (1993) Morphometry of human thigh muscles. Determination of fascicle architecture by magnetic resonance imaging. J Anat 182(Pt 2):249–257PubMed

Shinohara M, Kouzaki M, Yoshihisa T, Fukunaga T (1998) Mechanomyogram from the different heads of the quadriceps muscle during incremental knee extension. Eur J Appl Physiol 78:289–295. doi:10.1007/s004210050422 CrossRef

Solomonow M, Baratta R, Bernardi M, Zhou B, Lu Y, Zhu M, Acierno S (1994) Surface and wire EMG crosstalk in neighbouring muscles. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 4:131–142. doi:10.1016/1050-6411(94)90014-0 CrossRef

Thorstensson A, Karlsson J, Viitasalo JH, Luhtanen P, Komi PV (1976) Effect of strength training on EMG of human skeletal muscle. Acta Physiol Scand 98:232–236. doi:10.1111/j.1748-1716.1976.tb00241.x PubMedCrossRef

Travill AA (1962) Electromyographic study of the extensor apparatus of the forearm. Anat Rec 144:373–376. doi:10.1002/ar.1091440408 PubMedCrossRef

Watanabe K, Akima H (2008) Cross-talk from adjacent muscle has a negligible effect on surface electromyographic activity of vastus intermedius muscle during isometric contraction. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. doi:10.1016/j.jekin.2008.06.002

Winter DA, Yack HJ (1987) EMG profiles during normal human walking: stride-to-stride and inter-subject variability. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 67:402–411. doi:10.1016/0013-4694(87)90003-4 PubMedCrossRef

Winter DA, Fuglevand AJ, Archer SE (1994) Cross talk in surface electromyography: theoretical and practical estimates. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 4:15–26. doi:10.1016/1050-6411(94)90023-X CrossRef

Woods JJ, Bigland-Ritchie B (1983) Linear and non-linear surface EMG/force relationships in human muscles. An anatomical/functional argument for the existence of both. Am J Phys Med 62:287–299PubMed

Zhang L-Q, Wang G, Nuber GW, Press JM (2003) In vivo load sharing among the quadriceps components. J Orthop Res 21:565–571. doi:10.1016/S0736-0266(02)00196-1 PubMedCrossRef

Title: Normalized EMG to normalized torque relationship of vastus intermedius muscle during isometric knee extension
Authors: Kohei Watanabe
Hiroshi Akima
Publication date: 01-07-2009
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: European Journal of Applied Physiology / Issue 5/2009
Print ISSN: 1439-6319
Electronic ISSN: 1439-6327
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-009-1064-z

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Normalized EMG to normalized torque relationship of vastus intermedius muscle during isometric knee extension

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 5/2009

Exhaustive exercise causes an anti-inflammatory effect in skeletal muscle and a pro-inflammatory effect in adipose tissue in rats

Fatigue resistance during high-intensity intermittent exercise from childhood to adulthood in males and females

Evoked tetanic torque and activation level explain strength differences by side

Exercise-induced shear stress is associated with changes in plasma von Willebrand factor in older humans

Influence of crank length and crank width on maximal hand cycling power and cadence

Effects of acute hypoxia tests on blood markers in high-level endurance athletes