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- Exercise selection differentially influences lower body…
Exercise selection differentially influences lower body regional muscle development
Key Points
- Single-joint knee extension exercise elicits preferential hypertrophy of the rectus femoris muscle, with the multi-joint leg press activity bringing about similar levels of hypertrophy within the vastus lateralis.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Within resistance training there is a thought process whereby different exercises have an ability to bring about stimulation of different aspects of the targeted muscle group. This paper looked specifically at the muscles within the quadriceps femoris and triceps surae.
These muscle groups have previously been studied by researchers utilizing untrained participants, who reported that the rectus femoris was stimulated differentially to the vasti musculature within the quadriceps, and the gastrocnemius and soleus were also differentially hypertrophied depending on the knee-joint angle when performing plantar flexion actions.
Therefore, this study aimed to firstly compare the effects of multi-joint and single-joint lower body exercise on development of the quadriceps femoris musculature within trained individuals. Secondly, the paper aimed to compare the effects of exercises performed at different knee-joint angles on hypertrophy of the triceps surae.
In the early stages of rehabilitation, multi-joint activities can be used to off-load the injured structures however as rehabilitation progresses single joint exercises should be used.
METHODS
This study used 30 subjects who were volunteers from a university population, of whom 28 completed the final study. These subjects were made up of 20 male and eight females who were all between the ages of 18 and 40.