Emter, C. A., Pfeiffer, R. P., McChesney, J. W., & Harris, C. (2002). Muscle recruitment strategies in the lower extremity during a hang-drop deceleration maneuver. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 34(5), Supplement abstract 658.

Ss (M = 10; F = 10) completed three sets of 10 trials of a hang-drop maneuver on three separate days. EMG data for the medial hamstring, rectus femoris, and gastrocnemius were recorded.

No significant consistent muscle recruitment was evidenced in either gender. The way the muscles were recruited differed between the genders with females recruiting the quadriceps last more frequently.

[The variation in movement patterns that eventually achieve the same effect, suggests a family of movement patterns exists in performance. This "multiple-pattern" capacity could be a survival artifact because it would allow performance outcomes to be achieved more consistently and for a longer period than if only one specific action was involved. It seems worthwhile to consider consistent movement outcomes to be caused by a variety of actions rather than one. With that in mind, minor variations in training stimuli are warranted so that all motor patterns that might be involved in an activity are stimulated and given the opportunity to adapt. That might explain why free-weight exercises usually produce more beneficial training effects than movement-restricted exercises performed on machines.]

Implication. When the same outcome is repeatedly produced by an exercise, no one movement pattern is responsible for those outcomes.

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