Effect of Neck Position on Muscle Fatigue during Shaker Exercise

Objective: The aim of this study is to find the influence on muscle fatigue by changing an angle of neck while Shaker exercise. Background: Shaker exercise is commonly applied to dysphagia patients for strengthen suprahyoid muscle(SHM) and relaxing upper esophageal sphincter. Method: Experiments were conducted by measuring muscle fatigue with surface electromyography(SEMG) in case of neck $15^{\circ}$ and $50^{\circ}$ flexion, in addition to original method. For the study 30 undergraduate students were participated as subjects. Muscle fatigue was measured with variations of median frequency(MF) and median frequency slope(MFS) by attaching SEMG to 3 muscles. At the same time, perceived exertion was measured by using Borg's rating of perceived exertion(RPE). Results: A MF was increased when low angle in SHM, both male and female. It means that muscle fatigue was significantly decreased(p<.05). RPE was significantly increased when low angle(p<.01). Perceived exertion explained 15.2% of the variation of MF in SHM. And regression equation was, MF in SHM = 59.918 + (4,910 * RPE). Conclusion: The outcome shows that it is possible to use the efficient method which makes muscle fatigue decrease by reducing the angle of neck flexion. Application: The results might contribute to develop the effective Shaker exercise method.