Activation of triceps Surae during exercises on leg press, Smith and seated calf raise machines

Abstract

Background: Triceps surae muscle activation and subsequently mechanical stimuli might be affected by the manipulation and combination of resistance training variables such as load, change the position of the feet, rest between sets and exercise selection. Purpose. The aim of the present study was to determine the activity of the soleus (SOL), medial (MG) and lateral (LG) gastrocnemius muscles during exercises performed with different equipment and foot positions. Materials and methods. Fifteen males physically independent adults aged ≥18 years participated these cross‐sectional study. electromyographic activity of the SOL, MG and LG muscles was collected during the heel-raise movement, considering 50% of the load used in 10 maximum repetitions (MR) on the leg press, Smith and seated calf raise equipment (the loads used were specific to each equipment). For each device, three readings of five repetitions. Results. Two-way analysis of variance revealed a significant difference in the activity of the SOL, MG and LG muscles among the types of equipment (F = 11.55, P < 0.001; ηp 2 = 0.20). However, foot position exerted no influence on muscle activation (F = 0.21, P = 0.97; ηp 2 = 0.005). Conclusions. the heel raises exercises performed with 50% MR on the Smith machine led to a significantly greater increase in the activity of the MG and LG muscles in comparison to the leg press and seated calf raise equipment. The activity of the SOL, MG and LG muscles was not influenced by the position of the feet during the exercises performed on the three different types of equipment.