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Comparative Electromyographic Study of Scapular Stabilizing Muscles During Five Main Rehabilitation Exercises
Guillermo Mendez-Rebolledo1, Felipe Araya-Quintanilla, Eduardo Guzmán-Muñoz
1From the Laboratorio de Investigación Somatosensorial y Motora, Escuela de Kinesiología, Facultad de Salud, Universidad Santo Tomás, Talca, Chile (GM-R, EG-M, JS-M); Escuela de Kinesiología, Facultad de Odontología y Ciencias de la Rehabilitación, Universidad San Sebastián, Santiago, Chile (FA-Q); Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile (CC-M); Department of Rehabilitation Sciences (Physical Therapy), University Hospital Ghent, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Gent, Belgium (KRB); and Exercise Intervention for Health Research Group (EXINH-RG), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, Spain (JC).
Objective:
The aim of the study is to compare the surface electromyographic amplitude, activation ratio, and onset latency of the main scapular stabilizing muscles between five typical rehabilitative exercises.
Design:
Twenty-seven healthy participants performed five scapular exercises (wall slide, wall push-up plus, prone horizontal abduction with external rotation, external rotation in side lying, and low row) while simultaneously recording surface electromyographic of serratus anterior, middle trapezius, lower trapezius, and upper trapezius. Surface electromyographic amplitudes, onset latencies, and activation ratios were calculated.
Results:
Prone horizontal abduction with external rotation showed an excellent upper trapezius/middle trapezius (0.43) and upper trapezius/lower trapezius (0.30) muscle balance with high (>50% maximum voluntary isometric contraction) middle trapezius and lower trapezius amplitudes, a low (<20% maximum voluntary isometric contraction) upper trapezius amplitude, and an early activation of the scapular stabilizing muscles (-474.7 to 89.9 ms) relative to upper trapezius. External rotation in side lying showed excellent upper trapezius/serratus anterior (0.26), upper trapezius/middle trapezius (0.32), and upper trapezius/lower trapezius (0.21) activation ratios and, along with low row and wall slide, showed early activation of the scapular stabilizing muscles (-378.1 to -26.6 ms).
Conclusions:
Prone horizontal abduction with external rotation presented optimal scapular neuromuscular control. Although external rotation in side lying, low row, and wall slide did not meet all the criteria associated with optimal scapular neuromuscular control, these exercises could be used in early stages of shoulder rehabilitation because they favor early activation of the scapular stabilizing muscles.
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