• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.91-99
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• 2019

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to evaluate the activity of trunk muscles according to width of the foot and posture of the arm during sit to stand (STS). METHODS: Thirty subjects were recruited and examined for variation in muscle activity of the erector spine, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and external oblique during different STS conditions; namely, the cross arm basic sit to stand (CBSTS), overhead basic sit to stand (OBSTS), cross arm wide sit to stand (CWSTS), and overhead wide sit to stand (OWSTS). Repeated measures ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) was used for analysis. RESULTS: Erector spinae muscle activity showed a significant increase in the OBSTS condition (p<.05) and external oblique muscle activity showed a significant increase in the OWSTS condition ((p<.05). There was no significant difference in the activity of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius under any conditions (p>.05). CONCLUSION: During evaluation of the performance of the STS, the CWSTS condition will be useful to decrease the muscle activity of the erector spinae and the OWSTS condition will be useful to increase the muscle activity of the external oblique. The results of this study can be used as an index to find a suitable exercise method for subjects who have back pain or to strengthen the abdomen.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.325-328
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• 2020

Purpose: This study examined the effects of the directions of neck rotation position on the muscle activity and strength of the elbow flexor and extensor muscle. Methods: Forty-one healthy adults participated in this study. The subjects were asked to their elbow 90° flexion in three different neck rotations (neutral, ipsilateral, and contralateral) in the sitting position. The muscle activities of the biceps and triceps brachii muscle were measured using surface electromyography. And the muscle strength of the elbow flexor was measured using dynamometer. One way repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare the muscle activity and strength of the elbow flexor and extensor depending on the different neck turning directions. Results: There were significant differences between contralateral neck rotation and ipsilateral neck rotation, contralateral neck rotation and neutral position. But, there was no significant difference in the triceps brachii muscle activity in comparison with the neck rotation. There were significant differences between contralateral neck rotation and ipsilateral neck rotation, contralateral neck rotation and neutral position. Conclusion: To summarize this study, the elbow flexor and extensor muscle activity and strength was highest in the contralateral neck rotation position. In other words, it was possible to confirm the effect of Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex in healthy adults whose primitive reflexes were inhibition, and head and neck positions should be considered during clinical evaluation and treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2020

PURPOSE: This study examined the difference in muscle activity of the trunk and legs during flat walking with or without an abdominal drawing-in maneuver. METHODS: This study was conducted on 15 healthy males and eight females who were attending D University in Busan. This experiment was conducted after 15 minutes of abdominal drawing-in training using a pressure biofeedback unit before the experiment, and the difference in the muscle activity of the trunk and legs during flat walking with or without an abdominal drawing-in technique was investigated. Surface electromyography was used, and the electrode attachment site was the right sternocleidomastoid muscle, splenius capitis muscle, rectus abdominis muscle, external abdominal oblique muscle, transverse abdominis muscle, erector spinae muscle, vastus medialis muscle, and vastus lateralis muscle (TM DTS, Noraxon, USA). The data were analyzed statistically using a paired t-test on SPSS version 18.0 (IBM). RESULTS: The muscle activity of the rectus abdominis muscle, external abdominal oblique muscle, transverse abdominis muscle, vastus medialis muscle were increased significantly and maintained more than walking without maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (p < .05). Moreover, muscle activity of the erector spinae muscle was decreased significantly and maintained more than walking without maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Maintaining an abdominal drawing-in maneuver during flat walking is more effective during walking training.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.29-37
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• 2017

Background: The serratus anterior (SA) muscle is one of the important muscles in the upward rotation of the scapula when the arm is raised. Insufficient muscle activity of the SA can cause deformation of the shoulder rhythm resulting in shoulder pathology. Objects: This study intends to compare SA and upper trapezius (UT) activity during the conventional wall-slide and push-up plus exercises for SA muscle strengthening and the scapular upward rotation (SUR) exercise. Methods: A total of 30 subjects participated in this study, and we measured the muscle activity of the SA and UT muscles during the wall-slide, push-up plus and SUR exercises. The one-way repeated ANOVA was used to compare SA and UT muscle activities during the 3 exercises. Results: During the SUR exercise, SA muscle activity was 79.88% maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), which was significantly higher than its activity during the other 2 exercises. The UT muscle activity was 47.53 %MVIC during the SUR exercise, indicating a significantly higher UT muscle activity than during the other 2 exercises. Conclusion: These findings suggest that the SUR exercise can maximize SA muscle activity to strengthen the SA while keeping UT muscle activity at an appropriate level.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.487-492
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• 2021

Objective: This study aimed to identify the effects of assuming two types of posture (standing and kneeling) during squat exercise on lower body muscle activity. Design: Cross-sectional study Methods: Twenty-five healthy adults (18 men and 7 women) were instructed to perform the squat exercises while assuming two types of posture (standing and kneeling). EMG (Electromyography) data (% maximum voluntary isometric contraction) were recorded three times from the rectus femoris (RF), gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed) and biceps femoris (BF) of participant's dominant side and the mean values were analyzed. Results: During the squat exercise with all postures, there was statistically significant difference on rectus femoris, gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, and biceps femoris muscle activity (p<0.05). The results showed that, there was significantly greater rectus femoris, gluteus medius, and biceps femoris muscle activity in standing posture than in kneeling position (p<0.05). However, the gluteus maximus muscle activity was significantly greater with kneeling posture compared to standing posture (p<0.05). Conclusions: With standing posture, it is showed that rectus femoris, gluteus medius, and biceps femoris muscle activity was greater than kneeling position. While the gluteus maximus muscle activity with standing posture was less than with kneeling posture. Therefore, it is considered that this study can be used as a selective indicator of exercise posture for strengthening specific muscle or weakness caused by paralysis.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.127-135
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of combining Mulligan taping and flossing bands on lower limb muscle activity and static and dynamic balance. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Methods: Sixty-eight patients with chronic ankle instability were randomized into three groups that were treated with Mulligan taping (MT, n=22), flossing band (FB, n=23) and Mulligan taping combined with flossing band (MT+FB, n=23), and various parameters were compared before and after the intervention. The muscle activity of the lower extremities, including the tibialis anterior, peroneus longus and medial of gastrocnemius muscles was measured using BTS FREE EMG 1000, while the static and dynamic balance were measured using the Biorscuue balance measuring equipment. Results: There was a significant difference in muscle activity of the tibialis anterior muscle, before and after the intervention, in the MT group (p<0.01), FB (p<0.001) and MT+FB (p<0.001). There was also a significant difference in the muscle activity of the tibialis anterior muscle in the MT+FB group when compared with that in MT and FB groups (p<0.05). We also observed a significant difference in the dynamic balance all the groups (p<0.001). Conclusions: Therefore, combining Mulligan taping and flossing bands for patients with chronic ankle instability may improve dynamic balance and tibialis anterior muscle activity.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2024

Purpose: The study was undertaken to investigate the electromyographic activities of the gluteus maximus (GM), hamstring (HAM), and multifidus (MF) in three different sling locations during bridge exercise in the supine position. Methods: Twenty healthy male subjects participated. An electromyography device was used to measure the muscle activities of the GM, HAM, and MF muscles. Subjects were asked to perform bridge exercises with three different sling locations as follows: 1) Bridge exercise with an ankle sling; BEAS, 2) Bridge exercise with a calf sling; BECS, and 3) Bridge exercise with a knee sling; BEKS in random order. The analysis was conducted using one-way repeated ANOVA and the Bonferroni post hoc. Significance was set at α=0.01. Results: HAM muscle activity was significantly different in the three conditions (BEAS, BECS, BEKS) (adjusted p-value [p_adj]<0.01), and HAM muscle activity was significantly smaller during BEKS than during BEAS or BECS (p_adj<0.01). Muscle activity ratio (GM/HAM) during BEKS was significantly greater than muscle activity ratios during BEAS or BECS (p_adj<0.01). Conclusion: BEKS is recommended to inhibit HAM muscle activity and improve the GM/HAM muscle activity ratio.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1077-1083
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of stable and unstable bridging exercises on the EMG activity of abdominal muscles. Twenty healthy women participated in this study and the muscle activities of left-right rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO), and internal oblique (IO) muscles were recorded during 4 bridging exercises (unilateral/ bilateral, stable/unstable). The activity of the right EO muscle was the highest during unilateral exercise in unstable condition, and left EO muscle also produced the same result. The activity of the right IO muscle was the highest during unilateral exercise in an unstable condition, and left IO muscle also produced the same result. The activity of the right RA muscle was the highest during unilateral exercise in a stable condition, and left RA muscle produced the same result. Unstable/unilateral (USUL) represented the highest activity among the 4 exercises. EO/IO muscles represented the highest activity during the USUL exercise, and RA did so during the stable/unilateral exercise. These results suggest that specific posture (USUL) can be administered targeting a specific side of abdominal muscles.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.19-27
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• 2020

Purpose : We aimed to investigate the effect of cranio-cervical flexion exercises(CCFE) with visual feedback(VF) on the muscle activity of the upper trapezius in forward head posture (FHP) and whether deficits in proprioception affect the changes in muscle activity. Methods : Twenty subjects with FHP were assigned to one of 2 groups according to deficits in proprioception. The muscle activity of the upper trapezius during arm movement under three exercise conditions (resting, CCFE, and VF + CCFE). Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare differences in muscle activity according to the exercise conditions between the groups and to analyze the interactions between groups and conditions. Results : Significant differences were observed in muscle activity according to the exercise condition (p<.05), with no significant differences between the groups. The muscle activity of the upper trapezius was significantly different between the resting and VF +CCFE conditions (p<.05), with no significant difference between the resting and CCFE conditions (p>.05). Conclusion : The results of this study showed that the CCFE combined with VF are an effective intervention for FHP to train deep muscles selectively. In addition, the loss of proprioceptive sensation is not related to changes in muscle activity during exercises.

• International Journal of Contents
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2020

We sought to compare upper extremity muscle activity between handwriting on paper and touchscreen with dominant and non-dominant hands in younger adults (age 23.90±1.12) and the elderly (age 75.55±5.76). Muscle activity (percent of maximum voluntary contraction) in the biceps brachii muscle, triceps brachii muscle, flexor carpi ulnaris muscle, and extensor carpi ulnaris muscle was measured using an electromyography device. As a result, our data indicate that muscle activity is lower in younger adults than the elderly. Besides, muscle activity is lower in the dominant versus non-dominant hand, and lower when writing using a touchscreen than on paper. These results can be used to support recommending touchscreens in the elderly. Also, they can be used as baseline data for comparing the performance of non-paretic side and paretic side in patients relative to the central nervous system.