An Investigation of Surface EMG Shorts-Derived Training Load during Treadmill Running

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to determine the sensitivity of the sEMG shorts-derived training load (sEMG-TL) during different running speeds; and (2) to investigate the relationship between the oxygen consumption, heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), accelerometry-based PlayerLoad^TM (PL), and sEMG-TL during a running maximum oxygen uptake (V˙O_2max) test. The study investigated ten healthy participants. On day one, participants performed a three-speed treadmill test at 8, 10, and 12 km·h^-1 for 2 min at each speed. On day two, participants performed a V˙O_2max test. Analysis of variance found significant differences in sEMG-TL at all three speeds (p < 0.05). A significantly weak positive relationship between sEMG-TL and %V˙O_2max (r = 0.31, p < 0.05) was established, while significantly strong relationships for 8 out of 10 participants at the individual level (r = 0.72-0.97, p < 0.05) were found. Meanwhile, the accelerometry PL was not significantly related to %V˙O_2max (p > 0.05) and only demonstrated significant correlations in 3 out of 10 participants at the individual level. Therefore, the sEMG shorts-derived training load was sensitive in detecting a work rate difference of at least 2 km·h^-1. sEMG-TL may be an acceptable metric for the measurement of internal loads and could potentially be used as a surrogate for oxygen consumption.