In the last decades, emerging evidence has shown that muscle growth is not homogeneous along a muscle head. This phenomenon is known as regional muscle hypertrophy and has led to several questions regarding the implications it may have for health and sports performance.
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study was to determine whether regional hypertrophy can be predicted by surface electromyography (sEMG).
METHODS:
36 participants performed two arm exercises (preacher curls and inclined curls) in a random order to muscle failure at 70% of the 1 RM of the bicep curl exercise. As every participant performed a different number of repetitions, Peak sEMG and the integral of the sEMG of the last 3 repetitions was analyzed an compared to previously performed maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC).
RESULTS:
The independent sample -tests showed no significant differences neither in the peak nor in the integral of the sEMG between exercises for any given region.
CONCLUSIONS:
sEMG cannot be used to predict regional hypertrophy.
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