Research on electromyography reported by W.S. Tucker et al.

"The Cuff Link is a closed kinetic chain rehabilitation apparatus for the upper extremity. Limited research has established its effectiveness to elicit muscle activation of the scapular muscles," researchers in the United States report (see also Electromyography).

"To determine if scapular muscle activation differs in response to 2 upper extremity closed kinetic chain exercises: Cuff Link and standard push-up. A single-group, repeated-measures design. Controlled laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: Twenty-eight healthy individuals (13 women: age = 19.69 +/- 1.55 years, height = 167.44 +/- 9.52 cm, mass = 61.00 +/- 8.79 kg; 15 men: age 22.00 +/- 3.91 years, height = 181.44 +/- 6.60 cm, mass 82.36 +/- 13.23 kg) with no history of shoulder or low back injury volunteered to participate in this study. Participants performed 10 trials of complete revolutions on the Cuff Link and 10 full-weight-bearing push-ups. We controlled trial velocity and randomized order. Trunk and shoulder positions were normalized to the participant's height. Using surface electromyography, we recorded muscle activity of the serratus anterior, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius. Rectified and smoothed electromyography data for the serratus anterior, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius were normalized as a percentage of the maximal voluntary isometric contractions (%MVIC). Mean muscle activity of the serratus anterior, middle trapezius, and lower trapezius. We used paired-samples t tests to analyze the mean data for each condition. The alpha level was adjusted to .016 to avoid a type I error. Middle trapezius %MVIC was greater ...