Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Physical Therapy (MPT)

Department

Physical Therapy

First Advisor

Thomas Mohr

Keywords

Shoulder -- physiology

Abstract

Purpose: The Multi Sport Cord is a resistive device used to strengthen the shoulder girdle musculature. The purpose of this study is to determine which shoulder girdle muscles are active, as well as when they are active throughout the range of motion of selected therapeutic exercises with the Multi Sport Cord.

Methods: Five healthy male subjects (ages 23-28) without shoulder pathology were recruited for this study. The subjects performed five exercises two times each: once with the Multi Sport Cord and once with a free weight. The selected exercises were the following: sidelying external rotation, prone external rotation, standing external rotation, scaption, and flexion. EMG data was collected from the following muscles: anterior deltoid, posterior deltoid, infraspinatus, teres major, upper trapezius, and latissimus dorsi via surface electrodes. Motion analysis equipment was used simultaneously. This allowed the researchers to compare the EMG data to joint movement.

Results: Qualitative analysis showed that the EMG activity from the Multi Sport Cord and the free weight were comparable in an antigravity position in terms of which muscles were active and how much EMG activity was elicited. The Multi Sport Cord tended to elicit the peak activity later in the cycle when compared to the free weight. In a gravity-eliminated position, however, the Multi Sport Cord elicited 2-4 times the amount of EMG activity as did the free weight.

Conclusions: The Multi Sport Cord is advantageous to individuals with shoulder pathologies, because of the irrelevance of the patient position when performing exercises with this device. It is also easily adjusted and simple to use; thus, increased patient compliance with home exercise program can be expected with the Multi Sport Cord.

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