Hamstring and calf muscle activation as a function of bodyweight support during treadmill running in ACL reconstructed athletes

Rehabilitation after injury and reconstruction to the anterior cruciate ligament is thought to require a gradual reintroduction of loading, particularly during resumption of running. One strategy to achieve this is via the use of a reduced-gravity treadmill but it is unknown, if and how muscle activity varies in the reduced gravity conditions compared to regular treadmill running. Nineteen healthy participants and 18 male patients at the end of their rehabilitation (8 with a bone-patellar-bone graft, 10 with a hamstring graft) participated in this multi-muscle surface electromyography (sEMG) running study. The hamstrings and triceps surae were evaluated during a 16 km/h running while at 6 different relative bodyweight conditions from 50% (half weight-bearing) to 100% (full weight-bearing). Muscle activation was examined individually as well as normalized to a composite “entire” activation and considered across the entire gait cycle using Statistical Parametric Mapping. The healthy participants showed differences between the 50–100% BW and 60–100% conditions and in the hamstring graft group for 60–100% and 80–100% conditions. No differences were seen comparing all loading conditions in the bone-patellar-bone graft group. For the hamstrings, from 70% BW and above, there appear to be no difference in activation patterns for any of the groups.The activation patterns of the hamstrings was essentially the same from 70% indicated bodyweight through to full weight bearing when running at 16 km/h. Accordingly, when running at this relatively high speed, we do not expect any adverse effects in terms of altered motor patterns during rehabilitation of these muscles.