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The effects of hand placement on muscle activation during a closed kinetic chain exercise in physically active females

Stoelting, Kelli
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1210791395

Abstract Details

2008, Master of Science in Exercise Science, University of Toledo, Exercise Science.
Rehabilitation of the shoulder can be a complex process with an approach that is constantly changing. In order to be successful in the rehabilitation process, a complete understanding of the cause of injury and an accurate diagnosis is required2. Researchers are constantly testing new ideas and working to improve the current protocols. Knowing and understanding the movements of the shoulder complex and being aware of the muscles involved in this movement is vital to producing a solid rehabilitation protocol. Finding exercises that patients can perform on their own can be beneficial as well, especially when working with busy athletes or patients that may not have regular access to the clinician. One specific exercise, the push-up plus, is a great scapular stabilizing exercise that has been used clinically. Various hand placements during the push-up plus, however have not been thoroughly researched. The purpose of this study was to compare three different hand placements (normal, narrow, and wide) in a push-up plus to determine the average EMG activity in each using healthy female subjects. The female subjects’ results will be compared to a previous study which looked at the EMG activity in male subjects only for future investigations. A better understanding of the muscle activation involved in this exercise will allow clinicians to apply the correct techniques to the corresponding population they are working with. Twenty female subjects were recruited from a university setting and were tested performing the push-up plus in different hand positions (normal, narrow, and wide) while electromyography (EMG) of the serratus anterior (SA), middle (MT) and lower trapezius (LT) was assessed. Five trials for each hand placement were performed in a randomized order. The exercises were divided into three phases: 1) push-up phase, 2) plus phase 3) push-up plus phase. Each EMG signal collected during the push-up plus was normalized using the MVC average EMG signals. This allowed the trials to be expressed in percentages of each subject’s MVC trials. The data for each muscle was processed in SPSS v14.0 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL) for Windows statistical program. The independent variables were hand placement (Normal, Narrow, and Wide) and Exercise (Push-Up, Plus, and Push-Up Plus). The dependant variables were the average peak EMG activation of the three muscles (middle trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior). For each dependent variable, a separate two-within factor (Exercise and Hand Placement) repeated measures analysis of variance was performed. Significance was set a priori at p<0.05. For the trials showing statistical significance, a Scheffe’s post-hoc testing was applied. The findings of this study showed that there was marked muscle activation in the Serratus Anterior during all three phases of the exercise with the push-up portion of the exercise being the highest. For the hand position, there was marked activity for all hand placements with the Wide hand placement being the highest. The other two muscles, middle and lower trapezius showed moderate but not significant results for position and for exercise. This study suggests that the push-up plus is a good exercise if the clinician is focusing on the Serratus Anterior, but other exercises may be more well suited for the athlete if the goal is to strengthen the Middle or Lower Trapezius. Future studies may include a comparison between males and females during the push-up plus, and a comparison of the push-up plus to other upper body exercises.
Phillip Gribble (Advisor)
Charles Armstrong (Committee Member)
Mark Timmons (Committee Member)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Stoelting, K. (2008). The effects of hand placement on muscle activation during a closed kinetic chain exercise in physically active females [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1210791395

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Stoelting, Kelli. The effects of hand placement on muscle activation during a closed kinetic chain exercise in physically active females. 2008. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1210791395.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Stoelting, Kelli. "The effects of hand placement on muscle activation during a closed kinetic chain exercise in physically active females." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2008. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1210791395

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2008, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.