Functional Weight Bearing Exercises Normalized to Leg Length Among Males and Females

Determine if muscle activity of the rectus femoris (RF), rectus abdominus (RA), external oblique (EO), erector spinae (ES), gluteus medius (GMed), gluteus maximus (GMax), tensor fascia latea (TFL), and biceps femoris (BF) differs between gender among three single-limb weight bearing exercises using normalized leg length distances. Twenty men (23.2+ or - 2 yrs, 1,8+ or -.09m; 85+ or - 20 kg) and 20 women (23.2+ or - 2 yrs, 1,6+ or - .07m; 86+ or - 7 kg) who were healthy and recreationally active participated in the study. Surface electromyography (SEMG) and 2-D video were used to collect SEMG data for the RF, RA, EO, ES, GMed, GMax, TFL, and BF muscles of the dominant lower extremity. Descriptive statistics found males were taller and heavier compared to the women. No differences were found between gender by task for the eight muscles. Regardless of gender, the step down task resulted in higher GMax %MVIC compared to lunge, (p=0.002).