Electromyographic Analysis of Upper and Lower Limb Muscles during Gardening Tasks

Abstract

Movements of the upper and lower limb muscles during five common gardening tasks were analyzed by using electromyography (EMG). Twenty adults aged in their twenties (mean age, 24.8 ± 2.4 years) were recruited. On two separate occasions, subjects visited a garden plot to perform digging, raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing; all tasks were performed three times with 20 s intervals for each trial. To measure muscle activation during the five gardening tasks, surface EMG was used. Bipolar surface EMG electrodes were attached to eight upper limb muscles (bilateral anterior deltoid, biceps brachialis, brachioradialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris) or eight lower limb muscles (bilateral vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and gastrocnemius) on both sides of the body, for a total of 16 muscles. During the five tasks, photographs were taken of movement phases using a digital video camera. The right flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis showed higher activation than the other upper and lower limb muscles measured during the tasks. All 16 upper and lower limb muscles were actively used only during digging. According to movement analysis of each activity, digging was classified into four movement phases, whereas raking, troweling, weeding, and hoeing each were divided into three movement phases. In each activity, there were high-impact phases in terms of muscle activation; the flexor carpi ulnaris and brachioradialis were identified as major muscles in each impact phase. This analysis may be used to generate biomechanical profiles of gardening tasks for practitioners when designing efficient gardening interventions for physical health or rehabilitation.

Kinematic and Kinetic Analysis of Horticultural Activities for Postural Control and Balance Training

“…The collected analog signals through the surface EMG device were converted to digital signals in the wireless EMG analysis system, and the signals were analyzed using MyoResearch XP Master Edition (MyoResearch XP Clinical Edition 1.07, Noraxon). The raw EMG data (sampling rate, 1000 Hz) were filtered to remove noise by using a band-pass digital filter with a cutoff frequency of 20 Hz (low) and 250 Hz (high), and smoothing (10 ms) (Flanagan et al, 2003;Park et al, 2014). In addition, for normalization of EMG data, the raw EMG data were converted to the percentage of maximum voluntary isomeric contraction (%MVIC) data, which means the ratio of muscle activation required for an HA to achieve maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of each muscle (Nishijima et al, 2010).…”

“…Six common HAs such as digging, raking, sowing seeds, transplanting plants, weeding, and harvesting were performed (Table 2). To ensure that all subjects performed the HAs in the same way, a standard operating procedure for the HAs was developed previously by six experts in the field of horticultural therapy, horticultural science, and motion dynamics (Park et al, 2014) (Table 2).…”

“…A portable 16-channel surface EMG (Desktop DTS; Noraxon, Scottsdale, AZ) was used for the kinetic analysis of muscle activation. A total of 16 axial and lower limb muscles that have been shown previously to be functionally agonistic during HA and functional activities of daily living were selected (Kuo et al, 2011;Park et al, 2014). Bipolar surface EMG electrodes Horticultural activity Descriptions Raking 1) Standing with the feet shoulder width apart, holding onto the rake (0.9 kg) by placing the right hand at the end of the stick; 2) stepping forward with the left foot ahead of the right foot, holding the stick one third from the end; 3) reaching out as far as possible with the rake to position the blade properly at the horticultural task pot; 4) striking the rake onto the ground toward the front of the subject; 5) stepping back with the left foot.…”

“…Park and Shoemaker (2009) reported that motions requiring waist and lower limb movements, such as bending (82%), walking (59%), and lifting (47%), were performed mainly during HAs. In addition, researchers have expected that the various motions in HAs involve 1) combined exercises in which joints and muscles are used together, 2) weight-bearing exercises, and 3) movements during which the weight center of gravity changes (Chen and Janke, 2012;Park et al, 2013Park et al, , 2014Turner et al, 2002).…”

A Comparison of Exercise Intensity between Two Horticultural and Four Common Physical Activities among Male Adults in Their 20s

“…Based on research on muscle use during gardening activities (e.g., weeding, hoeing), researchers used electromyography patches to identify the overall muscular activity for gardening, which scanned 16 areas of the body (Park et al, 2014d). Moreover, Turner et al (2002) proposed that gardening activities such as weeding and digging require the use of the entire body, and that this has a positive impact on subjects' bone density.…”