Electromyographic analysis of effect of changes in load volume and crank length during pedaling

• Published in: Transactions of Japanese Society for Medical and Biological Engineering Vol. Annual59; no. Abstract; p. 328
• Main Authors: Manno, Masanobu, Shiozawa, Naruhiro, Masuda, Kazuto, Toyoshi, Takuya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japanese Society for Medical and Biological Engineering 2021; 公益社団法人 日本生体医工学会
• ISSN: 1347-443X; 1881-4379
• DOI: 10.11239/jsmbe.Annual59.328

The purpose of this study was to investigate the muscle activity influenced by different bicycle crank lengths and load amounts. The subject was a healthy young adult male(23y.o., 175 cm, 63 kg). The load of the bicycle ergometer was 100 and 300 N, and the crank length was 125 and 165 mm. EMG measurements were the rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, semitendinosus, and long head of the biceps femoris. The increase in the medial and lateral vastus muscles was greater than that of the other muscles as the load increased at the 125 mm crank compared to the 165 mm crank. Therefore, the 165 mm crank and 300 N exercise was found to be the most effective combination for strengthening the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis muscles because it could suppress the rectus femoris muscle.