Neurology Research International

Research Article

Focusing on Increasing Velocity during Heavy Resistance Knee Flexion Exercise Boosts Hamstring Muscle Activity in Chronic Stroke Patients

Table 2

Normalized EMG values for the biceps femoris, semitendinosus (agonists), vastus lateralis, and vastus medialis (antagonists) during knee flexion. Values are presented as least square means (LSM) ± 95% CI and represent % of maximum values. “” denotes a significant difference compared with the “speed” condition whereas “#” indicates a significant difference between “normal” and “blindfold.”


Muscle	Exercise	Nonparetic leg		Paretic leg
Muscle	Exercise	Mean (95% CI)	value	Mean (95% CI)	value

Biceps femoris	Speed	60 (49–71)		22 (15–30)
	Normal	59 (48–71)	NS	19 (12–27)
	Blindfold	59 (48–70)	NS	17 (10–25)
Semitendinosus	Speed	62 (51–74)		24 (13–35)
	Normal	61 (50–73)	NS	22 (10–33)
	Blindfold	61 (49–73)	NS	21 (10–32)

Vastus medialis	Speed	7 (5–9)		7 (5–9)
	Normal	7 (5–9)	NS	6 (4–8)	#
	Blindfold	8 (5–10)	NS	4 (2–6)
Vastus lateralis	Speed	5 (3–7)		8 (5–10)
	Normal	6 (4–8)	NS	6 (3–8)
	Blindfold	6 (4–8)	NS	5 (2–7)

Speed: knee flexions performed with a fast concentric phase.
Normal: knee flexions performed in a controlled manner.
Blindfold: knee flexions performed blindfolded.
NS: not significant.