A Comparative Electromyographical Investigation of Latissimus Dorsi and Biceps Brachii Using Various Hand Positions in Pull Ups Raizada Shiny1,*, Bagchi Amritashish1 1Assistant Professor, Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, Maharashtra, India *Corresponding Author: Shiny Raizada; Email Id shiny.raizada@ssss.edu.in; Contact number 8962645265
Online published on 19 August, 2019. Abstract Introduction Pull-ups is one of the most popular and traditional exercises that involves one's body weight which acts as a resistance against gravity. The exercise focuses mainly on upper back muscles (Latissimus Dorsi, Rhomboid), Posterior Deltoid and Biceps Brachii. Objective This study aimed at investigating the effects of different hand positions (grips) on the electromyographic (EMG) activity of Latissimus Dorsi (LD) and Biceps Brachii (BB) muscles during pullups. Novelty To the best of our knowledge none of the studies has analyzed the muscle activation of Latissimus Dorsi (LD) and Biceps Brachii (BB) muscles with the selected exercises. Materials and Method Ten healthy men performed 1 repetition of six different grip pull-ups. The maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) was recorded with the help of biograph infinity software (EMG). Surface ElectroMyoGraphy (SEMG) was used for measuring muscle electrical activity that occurs during muscle contraction. Results and Discussion The results of the study shows that, in case of muscles activation in Biceps Brachii, all the exercises reveal significant differences with the Supine Narrow Grip pull-ups (SNG). Similarly, Prone Narrow Grip pull-ups showed a significant difference in Latissimus Dorsi with Prone wide Grip pull-ups and Prone Extreme wide Grip pull-ups, suggesting that other pull ups exercises may be similarly effective in activating Latissimus Dorsi. Application It will help the professional trainers and coaches to design training schedule for all level of Athletes which may consist of different variations of pull-ups. Conclusion Supine Narrow Grip pull-ups is the best exercise to activate the Biceps Brachii as compared to other pull-ups variations. Similarly, Prone Wide Grip pull-ups found to be a more effective exercise for the activation of upper back muscle-Latissimus Dorsi. Top Keywords Electromyography, Muscle activation, Pull-Ups, Latissimus Dorsi and Biceps Brachii. Top |