The Effects of Water Exercise Program on Pennation Angle of the Lower Limb Muscle with Women in Their 20's

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the effect of a water exercise program on the pennation angle of the lower-limb muscle in women in their 20s. Methods: Ten female subjects were randomly divided into two groups, with 5 subjects exercising in water 0.7 m deep and 5 subjects exercising in water 1.4 m deep. They did the water exercising program for 40 minute per day, 3 days per week, for total 6 weeks. We measured the pennation angle of lower-limb muscle using ultrasonography. All measurements for each group were performed at pre-training and after 6 weeks of training. Results: The pennation angle was compared before and after the water exercise period for each group, and statistically significant changes within each group in measurements of the rectus femoris and tibialis anterior (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in muscle architecture by water depth (p>0.05) between the two groups. Conclusion: These results show that the pennation angle of the lower-limb muscle of women in their 20s changed after 6 weeks of participating in a water exercise program, but these changes were not dependent on the depth of the water in which the exercises were performed.