Muscle activation of vastus medialis obliquus and vastus lateralis during a dynamic leg press exercise with and without isometric hip adduction
Two articles on PainSci cite Peng 2013: 1. The Complete Guide to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome 2. Patellofemoral Pain & the Vastus Medialis Myth
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of submaximal and vigorous isometric hip adduction on the vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) and vastus lateralis (VL) activity during the leg press exercise from 90° of knee flexion until full extension.
DESIGN: Experimental.
SETTING: University biomechanics laboratory.
PARTICIPANTS: Ten healthy male college students.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Electromyographic (EMG) activation of VMO, VL and hip adductor longus (HAL) of the dominant leg were recorded during double leg press (LP), leg press with submaximal isometric hip adduction force (LP+), and leg press with vigorous isometric hip adduction force (LP++). The VMO, VL muscle activation, as well as the VMO/VL ratio between different leg press exercises were analyzed by MANOVA over concentric and eccentric phases, and in 15° increments of knee flexion motion. The effect size was calculated.
RESULTS: Neither LP+ nor LP++ changed the overall VMO-VL activation patterns. Specific to knee angle, however, small to medium effect size was shown with incorporation of isometric hip adduction to the leg press exercise for VMO/VL ratio.
CONCLUSION: Targeted training using the leg press exercise to the last 45° of knee extension/flexion with vigorous hip adduction may be useful in promoting a greater VMO/VL ratio.
related content
- “Activities of the Vastus Lateralis and Vastus Medialis Oblique Muscles during Squats on Different Surfaces,” Hyong et al, J Phys Ther Sci, 2013.
- “Effects of the slow speed-targeting squat exercise on the vastus medialis oblique/vastus lateralis muscle ratio,” Yoo, J Phys Ther Sci, 2015.
- “Analysis of vastus lateralis and vastus medialis oblique muscle activation during squat exercise with and without a variety of tools in normal adults,” Lee et al, J Phys Ther Sci, 2016.
- “The Effect of Altering Knee Position and Squat Depth on VMO : VL EMG Ratio During Squat Exercises,” Jaberzadeh et al, Physiother Res Int, 2016.
- “The effect of closed-kinetic chain exercises and open-kinetic chain exercise on the muscle activity of vastus medialis oblique and vastus lateralis,” Irish et al, Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 2010.
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