Investigation of muscle activation during exercises on different unstable surfaces

The aim of this study is to determine the muscle activations during exercises for a muscle group on fixed floor, BOSU, Pilates ball and TRX equipment. 25 male athletes with a mean age of 21.5 ± 2.66 years, height 179 ± 0.05 cm, weight 74.28 ± 4.27 kg, Body Mass Index (BMI) 22.98 ± 1.11 kg/m2 and body fat percentage 10.72 ± 2.07 voluntarily participated in the study. During the study, Push-Up, Plank, Glute Bridge and Bulgarian Split Squat (BSS) exercises were applied to the participants on a stable surface, BOSU, Pilates Ball and TRX, respectively, and muscle activations were measured with an 8-channel EMG device. Pectoralis Major (PM), Anterior Deltoid (AD) and Triceps Brachii (TB) in push-ups; Rectus Abdominis (RA), External Oblique (EO) and Erector Spinae (ES) in plank movement; Biceps Femoris (BF), Semitendinosus (ST) and Gluteus Maximus (GM) in the Glute Bridge movement; BF, ST, Rectus Femoris (RF), Vastus Lateralis (VL), Vastus Medialis (VM) and GM muscles were measured in BSS movement. The obtained data were analyzed using the Friedman test in the SPSS 23.0 program. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was used as a multiple comparison test to calculate the differences between surfaces. With the increase of instability in the push-up movement, the activation of the PM and TB muscles increases, while the activation of the AD muscle decreases significantly. In the plank movement, an increase in activation is detected with an increase in instability in the RA and EO muscles, while the ES muscle is very less active in this exercise. In the Glute Bridge movement, the BF and ST muscles are more active with an increase in instability, while the GM muscle is less active in TRX compared to other floors. In BSS movement, BF, ST, GM muscles are relatively less active regardless of the ground, while RF, VL and VM muscles show an increase in activation with increased instability. As a result, although there was an increase in activation in some muscles with the increase of instability during exercises, there was no difference with the increase of instability in some muscles, while a decrease was observed in the activation of some muscles. Therefore, it will be important for optimal development that trainers and athletes choose the floor and movements according to the muscle they plan to develop.