Myontec Mbody Case study

Case study based on the research by R. Kalema

NEUROMUSCULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF QUADRICEPS AND HAMSTRINGS MUSCLE DURING A SOCCER MATCH

CASE BACKGROUND Rudy Kalema is a physical trainer and a sport science adviser with almost 10 years experience in elite football. During his career he had worked with Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht (Belgium), Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (Fnland), AL-Shabab FC (Saudi Arabia) and Koninklijke Sint-Truidense Voetbalvereninging (Belgium). Kalema was introduced with Mbody during his studies at the University of Jyväskylä where smart shorts were used in several projects. Later, while working as a professional sport scientist in STVV Mbody was used by Kalema in collaboration with the team’s physiotherapys as a screening device to monitor muscle activity in order to prevent injuries and optimize rehabilitation processes. In 2012 Kalema has published a study, “Neuromuscular characteristics of quadriceps and hamstring muscle during a soccer match”, on implementing Mbody muscle monitor system into soccer. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of fatigue on athletes performance during an actual soccer match through and EMG activity of the right and left quadriceps and hamstrings. “Injuries often occur in training or matches. During the match you have the actual load and movement pattern of the soccer players. I thought that

using Mbody in the actual game would open a new dimension and provide us with the insight data. It could give us answers to the questions like: What is happening with muscle during the match? How muscles are behaving at the end of the match? Where majority of observed injuries occur?”, says Kalema.

Soccer is the world’s biggest team sport with an estimate of 230 million players. It is a complex contact sport with high technical and tactical and physiological demands. In soccer injuries are a recognized problem. Studies on soccer injuries risk suggest that 65% - 95% of the players have an injury during the season (Ekstrand et al. 2005). In female soccer most common injury is a knee injury, also known as ACL-tear. Quadriceps and hamstrings are functionally important to control stability of the knee joint complex. Studies on ACL injury mechanisms have suggested that the hamstring muscle has a crucial role in protecting the ACL during the movements (Gehring et al. 2009). It has ben suggested that fatigue is an important factor that may influence stabilizing control and thus cause ACL injuries, especially between the 75th and 90th minutes of the game (Hawkins et al. 1999). Concerning male football, it appears that thigh muscle strain injuries are among the most common and account for 10% to 23% of all acute injuries. The injury with the most prevalence is the hamstring strain, which account for 12-16% of total injuries(Caine et al. 2010, 214- 215).

THE ROLE OF THE MUSCLE CONTROL IN SOCCER  230 MILJ SOCCER PLAYERS WORLDWIDE 

INJURY RATE IN SOCCER PER 1,000 ATHLETE

7,3 WOMEN

7,6 MEN

65.3% AFFECT

LOWER LIMB

65.6% AFFECT

LOWER LIMB

SOURCE: NCAA SPORTS INJURY FACT SHEETS. NCAA SPORT INJURY FACT SHEETS ARE PRODUCED BY THE DATALYS CENTER FOR SPORTS INJURY RESEARCH AND PREVENTION IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, AND STOP SPORTS INJURIES. THE DATALYS CENTER MANAGES THE NCAA INJURY SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM.

Fatigue represents a reduction in the ability of muscle to generate force and in the context of football, it has been often related with injury. Surface electromyography is a valuable technique for evaluating muscle activation and fatigue which has never previously been applied to monitor muscle activation during a real football match. The development of washable textile electrodes has opened up possibilities to investigate muscular activity in non-laboratory settings, without skin preparation and wires hanging around the body. It has also been shown to be a valid and feasible method for assessing the average rectified value of electromyography (EMG). The purpose of this study was to measure EMG activity during an actual soccer match in order to find out how the workload induced by this physically demanding sport will affect the activity of two important lower limb’s group of muscle, quadriceps and hamstrings. Muscle activity and inactivity

were compared between the first 15 minutes of the 1st half (PRE) and last 15 minutes of the 2nd half (POST). Eight professional players, from the Finnish soccer league, volunteered for these study. All of the subjects were selected if not injured or recovering from injury at the time of assessments. Players professional experience in soccer was between 5-8 years and training volume was 4-6 sessions plus 1-2 matches per week. Study protocol was conducted in both laboratory and the field conditions. On the first day the subject performed an isometric maximal voluntary contraction in knee extension machine, followed by a 3 stage treadmill running test while wearing Mbody shorts. On the other day measurements of muscle activity was performed during three unofficial soccer matches.

NEUROMUSCULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF QUADRICEPS AND  HAMSTRING MUSCLE DURING A SOCEER MATCH 

 

0

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LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ

Inactivaty Light Moderate Vigorous

Musc

le ac

tivity

(%

of re

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ing tim

e)

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POST

* *

* *

* * *

*

0

5

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LH RH LQ RQ

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age E

MG (%

EMG

MVC)

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POST

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PRE and POST muscle activity profile of LQ , LH, RQ and RH. Inactivity time (threshold set as > 2% EMGMVC , light activity time (> aEMG at 6km/h), moderate activity time (> aEMG at 12 km/h) and vigorous activity time (> aEMG at 16 km/h) (*p< .05) (Kalema 2012).

Comparison EMG activity of LQ, LH, RQ and RH during the first (PRE) and last 15 minutes (POST) of the match. (*p< .05) Kalema 2012).

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER ACTIONS Inside Feedback from

the movement and Quality of the movement

Athletes learning & Self monitoring

Real time Analysis, Long distance Control and Fast

feedback for athlete & coach/physio

ADVANTAGES OF MUSCLE MONITORING

ü  During this study muscle activity of lower limbs was measured in the real soccer match conidtions for the first time. As the resultes have show'n EMG activity has a tendency to decrease during fatigue at the end of the game. The results show that players spent more time at the lowest EMG intensity and that while inactivity time increases in the last 15 minutes vigorous activity time decreases. (Kalema 2012)

ü  These fluctuations in the neuromuscular activity will probably have an impact on force generation of the muscles and indirectly cause injuries.The present finding represents an important step in injury prevention, rehabilitation and conditioning field. With the help of Mbody it is now possible to monitor the individual changes in the neuromuscular activity of two important muscles, in fatigue conditions to and see what is the actual time spent on the field before the maximum muscle load is reached and player becomes more exposed to the potential high risk injury. (Kalema 2012)

ü  Results give a promising starting point for using EMG in studying performance and preventing injuries during intensive sport activities such as football (Kalema 2012).

THE MYONTEC TEAM

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The Myontec solution (Mbody) incorporates intelligent clothing with wireless connectivity and mobile interfaces. This short - packed with wearable technology such as built-in textile sensors - measures activity of your muscle groups, Quadriceps and Hamstrings on both legs. The data can be followed on your mobile phone or pad, both during and after your exercise.

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Behind the Finnish company Myontec there is an international and versatile team of professionals who have gained success in Olympic level sports, and in the field of software engineering, university and research.

Myontec is an innovator. It is an entrepreneurial company, taking the invention of muscle measurement to marketable products and applications. This by integrating existing data and adding unique information to it. Thereby creating an additional dimension to better understand and manage the human body.

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To learn more visit www.myontec.com

REFERENCES Kalema, R., 2012. Department of Biology of Physical, University of Jyvaskyla. Master’s Thesis in Exercise Physiology: Quadriceps and hamstring muscle EMG activity during a football match. https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41027/URN%3aNBN%3afi%3ajyu-201303071300.pdf?sequence=1 NCAA, Men’s soccer injuries, Data from the 2004/05-2008/09 Seasons https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/NCAA_M_Soccer_Injuries_WEB.pdf NCAA, Women’s soccer injuries, Data from the 2004/05-2008/09 Seasons http://www.datalyscenter.org/f73d016ffb_sites/datalyscenter.org/files/NCAA_W_Soccer_Injuries_HiRes.pdf Ekstrand, J., Hägglund, M. & Walden, M. 2005. UEFA Champions League Study: A prospective Study of Injury in Professional Football during the 2001-2002 Season. British Journal of Sports Medicine 39(8), 542-546. Gehring, D., Melnyk, M. & Gollhofer, A. 2009. Gender and fatigue have influence on the knee joint control strategies during landing. Journal of Clinical Biomechanics 24(1), 82-87. Hawkins, R. & Fuller, C. 1999. A prospective epidemiological study of injuries in four English professional football clubs. British Journal of Sports Medicine 33(3), 196- 203. Caine D. J., Harmer P. A. & Schiff, M. A. 2010. Epidemiology of injury in olympic sports. Wiley-Blackwell.