Electromyography of rectus femoris and gastrocnemius through whole body vibration and squats with and without plantiflexion

Abstract

Objective: To compare the rectus femoris (RF) and medial gastrocnemius (MG) electromyographic activity, submitted to whole body vibration (WBV), WBV absence and 25o of plantiflexion, separately or jointly. Methods: Ten volunteers were submitted to squat: without WBV (S1), WBV and plantiflexion (S2), with WBV (S3), with WBV and plantiflexion (S4), monitored by electromyography. The Kruskall Wallis test was used to find differences and the Spearman coefficient for correlations between data (p<0.05). Results: Differences occurred between S1 and S2, S1 and S4 for RF. For MG, differences between S4 and the other situations occurred. Correlations for RF between S1 and S2, S2 and S3, S2 and S4, S3 and S4 were noted. For MG, significant correlations were not found, except in S2. Conclusion: The WBV with plantiflexion increases the RF and MG myoelectric activity, and can be used therapeutically with the parameters studied (40 Hz – 2 mm).