Gluteus medius muscle activities during standing hip abduction exercises in the transverse plane at different angles

Objective: To examine gluteus medius (GMed) muscle activity while performing standing hip abduction exercise in the transverse plane at different angles Material and Method: Muscle activity of both sides of the GMed was measured by electromyography (EMG) with a sampling frequency of 1,500 Hz. Participants were asked to perform standing hip abduction exercise in the transverse plane at different angles including 0°, 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75°, and 90°. Percent maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of average EMG of GMed muscles was reported from three trials for each limb. Repeated-measure ANOVA was used to analyze the data. Results: Nine healthy volunteers were included in the present study. The finding indicated that angle of hip motion in the transverse plane significantly (p<0.05) affects GMed muscle activity of swing and stance limbs. Standing hip abduction exercise at 30° in the transverse plane was observed to produce the highest EMG of swing limb (64.68% MVIC) than other angles. In stance limb, a decreasing trend of GMed muscle activity while performing standing hip abduction exercise was noted from 0° to 90° in the transverse plane, respectively. Conclusion: GMed muscle activities of swing and stance limbs during hip abduction exercise exhibited the highest EMG at 30° and 0° in the transverse plane, respectively. Therefore, these exercises of GMed muscle could be suggested for early rehabilitation. Standing exercises with 0° and 30° hip abductions might be suitable for weight bearing and non-weight bearing purposes.