The Impact of Crossramp Angle and Elliptical Path Trajectory on Lower Extremity Muscle Activation

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of linear path and converging path ellipticals at three varying crossramp angles (35 degrees, 25 degrees, and 15 degrees) on mean muscle activation of the gluteus maximus (GMAX), semitendinosus (ST), vastus medialis (VM), lateral gastrocnemius (LG), and vastus lateralis (VL). The study consisted of 25 young adults (15 males and 10 females. All subjects had previous experience with elliptical trainers and had no contraindications preventing them from taking part in the study. The main outcome measure was mean muscle activation, presented at %MVC, for GMAX, ST, VM, LG, and VL. A two-way, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine significance, with an alpha level of 0.05. The converging path elliptical trainer showed no significant difference in muscle activation for GMAX, ST, VM, or LG, compared to the linear path elliptical, but was significantly higher (p = .006) for VL. Results for the crossramp angle showed that VM and VL had significantly higher muscle activation on the 35 degrees ramp angle, with activation lessening from 25 degrees to 15 degrees (p = .027 and p < .001 respectively). LG showed higher activation on the 15 degrees ramp angle with activation lessening from 25 degrees to 35 degrees (p = .003). Exercising at a higher crossramp angle appears to activate the quadriceps more, while exercising at a lower crossramp angle would activate the LG to a higher degree. Additionally, individuals wanting to focus on VL activation should perform exercise on a converging path elliptical at a higher crossramp angle; however, caution should be exercised to account for over strengthening of the VL.