Evaluation of muscle activities during different squat variations using electromyography signals

Abstract

The importance of Electromyography (EMG) signals analysis with advanced methodologies is increasing in biomedics, clinical diagnosis and biomechanics and it becomes a required practice for many scientists from both health and engineering fields. The squat is a very important exercise for improving athletic performance and for prevention and rehabilitation of injuries. It has many different variations which are supposedly focusing on different muscles. We aimed to compare vastus medialis, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, gluteus maximus, semitendinosus, biceps femoris and erector spinae EMG activities during popular squat variations while the participants (14 healthy males, 23.7 ± 2.7 years-old) were performing 6 repetitions of front squat, back squat, hack squat, sumo squat and zercher squat with 60% of the 1 repetition maximum loading. Muscle EMG activities during different variations were compared by using Repeated measures ANOVA. The highest rectus femoris, vastus lateralis and vastus medialis EMG activities were observed during front squat with a significant difference with Zercher squat. EMG activities of Erector spinae and semitendinosus during Hack squat were significantly lower than all other squat variations (p < 0.05). These findings may suggest that front squat may be chosen to focus on quadriceps muscles while Hack squat may be a good choice for better knee and spinal stabilization.