Analysis of muscle activation pattern using EMG signal during cycle ergometer exercise

To analyze muscle activation pattern for dynamic exercise, changes in the integrated electromyography (IEMG) and the muscle effectiveness of active muscle during cycle ergometer exercise were investigated in untrained subjects (n = 5) and trained cyclists (n = 5). And also the ratio of VCO2/VO2 as an indicator of respiratory performance related to maximal contractions was studied in two groups. Each subject performed cycle exercises with incremental load (30 watts/min) at a constant pedaling speed (80 rpm) up to complete fatigue. The present finding demonstrates that there was a significant difference(P<0.001) in between muscle activation pattern of untrained group and that of trained group, as revealed by variations in IEMG and muscle effectiveness for the workload.