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Unique activation of the quadriceps femoris during single- and multi-joint exercises

  • Original Article
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European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to examine whether muscle activation of the quadriceps femoris differs between single- and multi-joint exercises, and to explore the factors resulting in muscle and exercise specificity in activation.

Methods

Eleven adults developed isometric hip extension torque gradually while maintaining submaximal isometric knee extension torque (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, 15 men performed knee extension and leg press separately at intensities of 20, 40, 60 and 80 % of their one repetition maximum (1RM) load, and 14 men conducted leg press at intensities of 40 and 80 % of 1RM until exhaustion (Experiment 3). Muscle activation during exercises was measured using surface electromyography from the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and medialis.

Results

The addition of isometric hip extension torque significantly decreased rectus femoris activation (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the rectus femoris activation was significantly higher during knee extension than during leg press, whereas no differences were observed in the vasti. The rectus femoris activation was not significantly different between leg press at 80 % and knee extension at 20 % of 1RM. The results of Experiment 3 showed significant increases in vasti activation at both intensities, whereas rectus femoris activation did not change at 80 % of 1RM.

Conclusion

The results revealed that even at high intensity, the rectus femoris activation during multi-joint exercise is low and does not increase with fatigue, unlike the vasti, and that the inter-muscle and inter-exercise differences in activation depend on whether hip extension torque is exerted in the exercise.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BF:

Biceps femoris long head

EMG:

Electromyography

MVCHE :

Maximal voluntary hip extension

MVCKE :

Maximal voluntary knee extension

RF:

Rectus femoris

RM:

Repetition maximum

RMS:

Root mean square

VL:

Vastus lateralis

VM:

Vastus medialis

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly supported by MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15J08355 (Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows) and 24300209 [Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)].

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, 307 Fukasaku, Minuma-ku, Saitama-shi, 337-8570, Saitama, Japan

    Ryoichi Ema

  2. Research Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Ryoichi Ema

  3. Human Performance Lab, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Masanori Sakaguchi

  4. College of Systems Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Saitama-shi, Saitama, Japan

    Ryota Akagi

  5. Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan

    Yasuo Kawakami

Authors
  1. Ryoichi Ema
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  2. Masanori Sakaguchi
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  3. Ryota Akagi
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  4. Yasuo Kawakami
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Correspondence to Ryoichi Ema.

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No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.

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Communicated by Fausto Baldissera.

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Ema, R., Sakaguchi, M., Akagi, R. et al. Unique activation of the quadriceps femoris during single- and multi-joint exercises. Eur J Appl Physiol 116, 1031–1041 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3363-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-016-3363-5

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