What is it about?
Shifting angles during movement might impact how a muscle activate and is an interesting approach to fully develop specific muscle groups. We tested three different feet positioning (pointing inward, outward and straight) during calf raise exercise to verify which gastrocnemius head would be more active in each one of them. Basically, pointing the feet outwards greatly activates the medial portion, while pointing inwards favors the lateral head. A straight position allows similar activities among both heads.
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Why is it important?
This contributes to understanding biomechanical properties of the gastrocnemius muscle, showing activation sites regarding feet position. Since acute electromyographic activation has been related to chronic hypertrophy, it is quite safe to say that these variations can lead to greater muscle development in each specific muscle head. This can be useful to correct in-muscle asymmetries and be applied to bodybuilding training routines.
Perspectives
This is an important paper that adds to the literature on standing calf raise exercise and the gastrocnemius muscle activation. Although other studies have analyzed similar aspects, we used an approach very similar to what practitioners perform in the gym, bringing our results closer to their practical applications.
Alexandre Marcori
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Gastrocnemius muscle activation during plantar flexion with different feet positioning in physically active young men, Isokinetics and Exercise Science, May 2017, IOS Press,
DOI: 10.3233/ies-160654.
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