EMG Asymetricity of Selected Knee Extensor Muscles in Sustained Squat Posture (A Yogic Posture) of Athletes in Relation to their Gender and Performance

Squat Posture (a yogic posture) is considered as one of the closed kinetic exercises that is used for evaluation process or test by physiotherapists/clinicians/others associated with rehabilitation of athletes to strengthen the lower-body. It is used most frequently in strength and conditioning exercises. A wide range of athletic movements have biomechanical and neuromuscular similarity to squat therefore it is included as a core exercise in many sports routines that are designed to enhance athletic performance [1,2]. Benefits related to squat activity is not limited to athletes only and most of the squatting movements have close specificity to many routine activities of daily living among individuals such as vehicle driving, lifting packages and picking up children etc. Moreover, in developing countries such as India squatting tasks are more prominent since people do most of the work for comfort and ease by sitting on the floor. Hence, it has become increasingly popular in clinical procedures, with physiotherapist trainings and rehabilitation procedures as a means to strengthen lower-body muscles and connective tissues after joint-related injury [3,4].It is extensively used for therapeutic treatment of ligament lesions, patellofemoral dysfunctions, total joint replacement, and ankle instability [4]. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and compare the muscular activities, which occur in the knee joint during performance of squat exercises or posture in order to determine positions of better muscular balance, ligament tension and articular compression.