Effect of foot/pedal position on gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior activity during static cycling.

The recruitment pattern of lower limb muscles during cycling is known to alter because of changes in workload and seat height. The effect of foot/pedal position is not well understood but may be useful in the prevention and management of injury. Seven healthy female subjects participated in a study. Three-foot positions on the pedal were tested in a random order: neutral, back and fore. Each subject cycled for 5 minutes at a set cadence and resistance during which 30 seconds of electromyogram data were recorded for gastrocnemius (Gast.) and tibialis anterior (TA). An electrogoniometer was located across the knee to concurrently record pedal revolutions. To test the effect of position, an ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc were used for Gast. However, the data from the TA were not normally distributed; therefore, a Kruskal-Wallis was used for this muscle instead. No statistical significant relationship was found between foot position and TA activity ( p = 0.128). However, there was a significantly ( p = 0.000) lower level of activity in Gast. when the pedal was placed in the back foot position. Altering the position of the foot on a pedal changes the muscle activity of Gast. This is likely to be caused by the change in moment arm and may be exploited as a strategy to progress resistance during a training programme or as a method of protecting the muscle during a period of recovery. These conclusions should be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]