Ativação da Musculatura de Tronco e Coxa durante Agachamentos Unipodais em Mulheres com Dor Femoropatelar

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the muscle activity of the hip and knee stabilizers during different variations of the single-leg squat in females with and without Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFP). This is a cross-sectional study in which 80 active female volunteers, aged 18-30 years, were evaluated and divided into two groups: PFP and Control. All volunteers underwent a physiotherapy assessment prior to electromyographic evaluation of the Internal Oblique (IO) and External Oblique (EO) muscles, bilaterally, quadriceps, and gluteus medius (GMed), during a single-leg squat held for 6 seconds; the squats evaluated were: conventional single-leg squat (SLS), squat with the use of a flexi-bar (SLS-Flexibar), and squat using an elastic band on the upper limbs (SLS-ELAS). The comparison between groups was performed using the independent t-test, and for the comparison between exercises, a one-way repeated measures ANOVA test was used, both with a significance level of 5%. The comparison between groups showed greater activation of the gluteus maximus (GMed) in the SLS-Flexi-bar and SLS-ELAS exercises in the PFP group compared to the control group. Regarding the comparison between exercises, in the PFPS group, an increase in quadriceps and GMed activation was observed during the AGAFlexi-bar and AGA-ELAS exercises compared to the AGA, with the AGA-Flexi-bar being superior to the AGA-ELAS. Therefore, the use of the Flexi-bar during single-leg squats is suggested to increase the activation of the knee and hip stabilizer muscles in the treatment of female individuals PFP.