The effect of rucksack carrying position on the activity of the trapezius muscle
Item
- Title
- The effect of rucksack carrying position on the activity of the trapezius muscle
- Author(s)
- Lys Alex
- Abstract
- Carrying a load is an everyday occurrence for some people, especially school children and students. It is widely believed that it's more beneficial to carry a rucksack so that the load is spread over both shoulders. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different rucksack carrying positions on the activity of the trapezius muscle. It was hypothesized that there was a difference in the motor unit activity of the trapezius muscle when the rucksack was carried in different positions. Twelve asymptomatic subjects, all male, aged between 22 and 30, were recruited from the fourth year student population of the British College of Naturopathy and Osteopathy. Subjects were asked to walk on a treadmill for duration of five minutes. Each week thesubject carried the rucksack in a different carrying position that had been randomly selected. The measurement of the motor unit activity of the trapezius muscle was obtained using a surface Electromyography (sEMG), attached to each subject whilst carrying the rucksack. Statistical analysis using an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a Tukey's Multiple Comparison Test demonstrated that there was a significant difference (p<0.05) between the modes of carrying for both shoulders and one shoulder, both shoulders and in the hand, over one shoulder and empty rucksack and in the hand and with the empty rucksack. There was however no significant difference between both shoulders and empty bag over both shoulders or one shoulder and in the hand. The hypothesis wasaccepted that there was a significant difference between the modes of carrying, as demonstrated by lower muscle activity. It was concluded that it took less energy to carry the load over both shoulders than in another mode of carrying by using a sEMG.
- presented at
- British College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Date Accepted
- 2002
- Date Submitted
- 1.11.2003 00:00:00
- Type
- undergraduate_project
- Language
- English
- Number of pages
- 74
- Submitted by:
- 62
- Pub-Identifier
- 13007
- Inst-Identifier
- 1076
- Keywords
- Muscles,Trapezius,Rucksacks
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Lys Alex, “The effect of rucksack carrying position on the activity of the trapezius muscle”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 4, 2025, https://www.osteopathicresearch.org/s/orw/item/1331