Selective Activation of Shoulder, Trunk, and Arm Muscles: A Comparative Analysis of Different Push-Up Variants

Abstract

Context: The push-up is a widely used exercise for upper limb strengthening that can be performed with many variants. A comprehensive analysis of muscle activation during the ascendant phase (AP) and descendant phase (DP) in different variants could be useful for trainers and rehabilitators.Objective: To obtain information on the effect of different push-up variants on the electromyography (EMG) of a large sample of upper limb muscles and to investigate the role of the trunk and abdomen muscles during the AP and DP.Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: University laboratory.Patients or Other Participants: Eight healthy, young volunteers without a history of upper extremity or spine injury.Intervention(s): Participants performed a set of 10 repetitions for each push-up variant: standard, wide, narrow, forward (FP), and backward (BP). Surface EMG of 12 selected muscles and kinematics data were synchronously recorded to describe the AP and DP.Main Outcome Measure(s): Mean EMG activity of the following muscles was analyzed: serratus anterior, deltoideus anterior, erector spinae, latissimus dorsi, rectus abdominis, triceps brachii caput longus, triceps brachii caput lateralis, obliquus externus abdominis, pectoralis major sternal head, pectoralis major clavicular head, trapezius transversalis, and biceps brachii.Results: The triceps brachii and pectoralis major exhibited greater activation during the narrow-base variant. The highest activation of abdomen and back muscles was recorded for the FP and BP variants. The DP demonstrated the least electrical activity across all muscles, with less marked differences for the abdominal and erector spinae muscles because of their role as stabilizers.Conclusions: Based on these findings, we suggest the narrow-base variant to emphasize triceps and pectoralis activity and the BP variant for total upper body strength conditioning. The FP and BP variants should be implemented carefully in participants with low back pain because of the greater activation of abdominal and back muscles.Key Words: fitness, training, kinesiology, rehabilitation Key PointsDuring the push-up exercise, hand position can influence the electromyographic activity of different muscles. A narrow hand position (hands together with the right thumb and forefinger touching the left thumb and forefinger below the center of the sternum) elicited greater activation for both the triceps brachii and pectoralis major muscles. Changing the position of the hands forward or backward can increase the electromyographic activity of the abdominal and back muscles.

Peer Review #2 of "Differences in electromyographic activity of biceps brachii and brachioradialis while performing three variants of curl (v0.2)"

“…The enhancement of the activity of specific muscles with different exercise variants and different ranges of motion have been extensively examined for both the lower limb muscles (Boyden et al, 2000;Paoli, Marcolin & Petrone, 2009;Signorile, Kwiatkowski & Caruso, 1995) and trunk muscles (Lehman, 2005;Lusk, Hale & Russell, 2005;Marcolin et al, 2015;Paoli, Marcolin & Petrone, 2010;Signorile et al, 2002). Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the EMG activity of the arm and forearm muscles while performing resistance exercises (Oliveira & Gonçalves, 2009;.…”

Peer Review #2 of "Differences in electromyographic activity of biceps brachii and brachioradialis while performing three variants of curl (v0.1)"

“…The enhancement of the activity of specific muscles with different exercise variants and different ranges of motion have been extensively examined for both the lower limb muscles (Boyden et al, 2000;Paoli, Marcolin & Petrone, 2009;Signorile, Kwiatkowski & Caruso, 1995) and trunk muscles (Lehman, 2005;Lusk, Hale & Russell, 2005;Marcolin et al, 2015;Paoli, Marcolin & Petrone, 2010;Signorile et al, 2002). Nevertheless, few studies have investigated the EMG activity of the arm and forearm muscles while performing resistance exercises (Oliveira & Gonçalves, 2009;.…”

Changes in Body Position during a 2-Minute Push-Up Test

“…While extensive research has investigated differences in initial hand placement, joint stresses and optimizing training effectiveness [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], little attention has been given to the changes in body position over the course of an extended push-up bout when compensational movement patterns are likely to be adopted. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to compare the natural push-up body positioning from the beginning to the end of a continuous 2-minute standardized push-up assessment.…”