Publication Date
2021
Journal or Book Title
JOURNAL OF SPORT AND HEALTH SCIENCE
Abstract
Background: One-legged pedaling is of interest to elite cyclists and clinicians. However, muscular usage in 1-legged vs. 2-legged pedaling is not fully understood. Thus, the study was aimed to examine changes in leg muscle activation patterns between 2-legged and 1-legged pedaling. Methods: Fifteen healthy young recreational cyclists performed both 1-legged and 2-legged pedaling trials at about 30 Watt per leg. Surface electromyography electrodes were placed on 10 major muscles of the left leg. Linear envelope electromyography data were integrated to quantify muscle activities for each crank cycle quadrant to evaluate muscle activation changes. Results: Overall, the prescribed constant power requirements led to reduced downstroke crank torque and extension-related muscle activities (vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and soleus) in 1-legged pedaling. Flexion-related muscle activities (biceps femoris long head, semitendinosus, lateral gastrocnemius, medial gastrocnemius, tensor fasciae latae, and tibialis anterior) in the upstroke phase increased to compensate for the absence of contralateral leg crank torque. During the upstroke, simultaneous increases were seen in the hamstrings and uni-articular knee extensors, and in the ankle plantarflexors and dorsiflexors. At the top of the crank cycle, greater hip flexor activity stabilized the pelvis. Conclusion: The observed changes in muscle activities are due to a variety of changes in mechanical aspects of the pedaling motion when pedaling with only 1 leg, including altered crank torque patterns without the contralateral leg, reduced pelvis stability, and increased knee and ankle stiffness during the upstroke.
ISSN
2095-2546
ORCID
Park, Sangsoo/0000-0002-9617-6312
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2020.01.003
Volume
10
Issue
1
License
UMass Amherst Open Access Policy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Funder
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Recommended Citation
Park, Sangsoo and Caldwell, Graham E., "Muscular Activity Patterns in 1-Legged vs. 2-Legged Pedaling" (2021). JOURNAL OF SPORT AND HEALTH SCIENCE. 599.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jshs.2020.01.003