Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 department of motor behavior, faculty of physical education and sport science, university of Tabriz
2 professor at Tabriz University
3 Ph. D Student of Motor Behavior
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the effect of focus of attention on the electrical activity of lower limb muscles in elderly individuals. This is a semi-experimental design study. Ten retired elderly male individuals were selected based on convenience sampling method. Using USB2+ electromyography system, the electrical activity of right and left rectus femoris, biceps femoris, and tibialis anterior muscles during walking without attention instruction and walking with internal and external focus of attention were measured. The obtained signals were processed using OTBiolab software. The repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results showed that during walking with internal focus, there was higher muscular activity compared to walking with external and without attention instruction (p<0.05). The pattern of electrical activity of different muscles was similar across different instructions, and there was no significant interaction between the instruction and muscle (p=0.06) factors, with the highest muscular activity in all three instructions being related to the rectus femoris and the lowest being related to the biceps femoris. Based on our results it can be concluded that, EMG activity of lower limb muscles in elderly subjects while walking with and without external focus of attention were less than internal focus of attention. It is attributed to the more economical movement and improved neuromuscular efficiency. Considering that external focus of attention reduces energy consumption and produce more automatic movement compared to internal focus, it is recommended external focus instructions instead of internal focus attention for increasing intramuscular coordination and efficiency in elderly individuals.
Keywords
Main Subjects
)