24th Annual Student Research Conference
Lower Extremity Electromyographic Differences in Women while Landing a Drop Jump
Meghan R. Turner* and David J. Bromberg
Dr. Michael Bird, Faculty Mentor
The objective of the study was to compare electromyographic (EMG) activity of dominant and non-dominant legs in females during a drop jump. Sixteen college aged females volunteered to be subjects. Following warm-up, surface electrodes were attached to the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, adductor magnus, and medial gastrocnemius to measure muscle activity. Each subject completed three repetitions of a drop jump from thirty inches. Surface EMG activity was measured with a Delsys system at 1000 HZ. Data was normalized to maximum voluntary contraction activity for each muscle. Dominant and non-dominant relative activity was compared with a Wilcoxon nonparametric statistic (α=0.05). The gluteus medius had significantly less activation on the dominant side. The gluteus medius is an important muscle for eccentric braking of hip adduction and seems to play an important role in drop jumps. This may have important implications for knee injury risk.
Keywords: Knee Injury, Muscles Activity, EMG
Topic(s):Exercise Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 18-2
Location: VH 1010
Time: 9:45