Matching Items (2)
Filtering by

Clear all filters

137412-Thumbnail Image.png

DIFFERENCES IN UNILATERAL CHEST PRESS MUSCLE ACTIVATION ON A STABLE VERSUS UNSTABLE SURFACE WHILE HOLDING ONE VERSUS TWO DUMBBELLS

Description
Training the bench press exercise on a traditional flat bench does not induce a level of instability as seen in sport movements and activities of daily living. Because of this, many new types of equipment have been created in an attempt to induce instability, such as the COR Bench. 15…

Training the bench press exercise on a traditional flat bench does not induce a level of instability as seen in sport movements and activities of daily living. Because of this, many new types of equipment have been created in an attempt to induce instability, such as the COR Bench. 15 males and 7 females between the ages of 18 and 30 were recruited for the present study, which tested two forms of instability: using one dumbbell rather than two, and lifting on the COR bench compared to a flat bench. Thusly, EMG was used to measure muscle activity in four separate conditions of unilateral bench press movements: on a flat bench with one dumbbell, on a flat bench with two dumbbells, on the COR Bench with one dumbbell, and on the COR Bench with two dumbbells. Results indicated that lifting with one dumbbell compared to two dumbbells on the flat bench significantly increased muscle activity across all four muscles being analyzed (pectoralis major, p = .005; middle trapezius, p = .008; external obliques, p = .004; and internal obliques, p = .003), but lifting with one dumbbell compared to two dumbbells on the COR Bench only significantly increased muscle activity in the middle trapezius (p = .001), external obliques(p = . 032), and internal obliques (p = .001). The only muscle to exhibit a significant increase in muscle activity when going from one dumbbell on the flat bench to one dumbbell on the COR Bench was the middle trapezius (p = .010). These results imply that the COR Bench itself does not increase muscle activity as much as switching from two dumbbells to one dumbbell, regardless of the bench being used.
ContributorsPatterson, Jeffrey (Author) / Harper, Erin (Thesis director) / Broman, Tannah (Committee member) / Cataldo, Donna (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2013-12

The Effect of Perturbation-Based Training on the Balance of Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

Description
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disease that affects millions of individuals across the world. There is no current cure for the disease, so much of the patient treatment is focused on management of the disease. One of the potential effects of having MS is having a decrease in…

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disease that affects millions of individuals across the world. There is no current cure for the disease, so much of the patient treatment is focused on management of the disease. One of the potential effects of having MS is having a decrease in balance which leads to a greater risk in sustaining a fall. It has been found in previous studies that MS patients have slower reaction times compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, electromyography (EMG) is an effective way to measure a subject's reaction to a perturbation. This study aims to see if MS subjects can improve their reaction times through a series of perturbation-based training visits. 18 MS patients and 11 healthy controls were recruited for this study. Each subject went through two baseline visits, six training visits, and two post-assessment visits. During each visit, subjects went through a series of forward and backward perturbations from a stand to react position administered by a dual-belt perturbation treadmill. The subjects' reaction times were measured by taking the difference between the onset of the treadmill movement and the onset of the muscle activation. This muscle activation was measured by placing EMG sensors on the tibialis anterior muscle and medial gastrocnemius muscle on each leg. After running a repeated measures ANOVA test, it was found that there were no significant differences in the reaction times between MS participants and healthy controls. However, the overall trend in the data was promising, as MS patients did improve their performance in backward-stepping slightly. Adding more participants to the study could strengthen this trend. It was also found that males across both groups significantly improved their reaction times compared to females. However, it is unknown why this occurred. Future goals would be to add more participants to the study and follow-up with MS patients to see if they have a decrease in falls post-training.
ContributorsSalek, Aydin (Author) / Peterson, Daniel (Thesis director) / Lee, Hyunglae (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2024-05