This study examined the impact of a collegiate soccer practice on freshman female’s gastrocnemius activation while performing a power jump, as measured by surface EMG. The muscles analyzed included the right and left medial and lateral gastrocnemius’. The null hypothesis stated that no significant difference in gastrocnemius activation will exist during post-practice compared to pre-practice testing. Subjects included six, freshman, female collegiate soccer players. Using a Delsys Trigno® Wireless sEMG system, electrodes were placed on the bellies of the gastrocnemius muscles. Participants completed three countermovement box jumps, with a 20-second rest between trials. Muscle signals were processed and sent to EMGworks® Analysis Software for assessment. The root mean square (RMS) of each MVIC was calculated and the greatest MVIC across all three scores was used for normalization. The box jumps were normalized to the greatest MVIC across all three jumps for each muscle analyzed and the maximum amplitude from each jump was expressed as a percentage of the MVIC. The means of the scores for each muscle were used to run a paired two samples mean t-test. The t-test indicated no significant differences in muscle activity from pre to post-practice box-jumps. Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. A recommendation for this study would be to assess the difficulty of the 90-minute practice as well as possibly assess different muscles for comparison

Quillen, Ali

English

Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University ValpoScholar Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) Office of Sponsored and Undergraduate Research Spring 2020 The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius Activation Ali Quillen Valparaiso University, ali.quillen@valpo.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus Recommended Citation Quillen, Ali, "The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius Activation" (2020). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 863. https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/863 This Poster Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Sponsored and Undergraduate Research at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE) by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. This study examined the impact of a collegiate soccer practice on freshman female’s gastrocnemius activation while performing a power jump, as measured by surface EMG. The muscles analyzed included the R & L medial and lateral gastrocnemius. The null hypothesis stated that no significant difference in gastrocnemius activation would be found between post and pre-practice. Subjects included six, freshman, female collegiate soccer players. Delsys Trigno® Wireless sEMG system was used. Electrodes were placed on bellies of gastrocnemius. Participants completed three countermovement box jumps, with a 20-second rest between trials. Muscle signals were processed and sent to EMGworks® Analysis Software for assessment. The root mean square (RMS) of each MVIC was calculated and the greatest MVIC across all three scores was used for normalization. The box jumps were normalized to the greatest MVIC across all three jumps for each muscle and the maximum amplitude from each jump was expressed as a percentage of the MVIC. A paired two samples mean t-test indicated no significant differences in muscle activity from pre to post-practice box-jumps. Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. A recommendation for this study would be to assess the difficulty of the 90-minute practice as well as possibly assess different muscles for comparison.IntroductionResults cont.Valparaiso University Department of  KinesiologyAli Quillen; Kelly Helm PhD The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius ActivationMethodsSetting• Small D1 private Midwestern University • Human Performance Lab• Spring 2020Participants• 6 freshman Division I female soccer players • Procedures• Five-minute warm-up on bicycle ergometer.• Skin surface above right and left medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles was prepared and secured with electrode sensors.• 3 MVIC’s followed by 3 countermovement box jumps were performed and video recorded• Surface electrodes detecting muscle activity sent data via Bluetooth to computer program.• A paired two samples mean t-test was done for each muscle to test for significance between pre- and post-practice muscle activation.ConclusionComparison of pre- and post-practice gastrocnemius activation indicated no statistically significant results between pre- and post-practice, for any of the four muscles analyzed. The results do not support research that indicate that the subjects’ improved their exercise economy and reduced fatigue levels, leading to improved performance.5 Researchers concluded that the 90-minute soccer practice did not have a significant impact on gastrocnemius activation, as measured during a box jump. Therefore the null hypothesis was accepted. Further research is needed with a larger sample size and more specific training intervention. ResultsFigure 2 Landing PhaseFigure 1 Loading Phase AcknowledgementsI would like to thank Dr. Helm for helping me complete all my data collection and for the many hours she put into assisting me with data analysis and organization. I would also like to thank the six participants on the women’s soccer team for participating in my study and their Head Coach for allowing them to participate. Lastly, I am thankful for my classmates Cody Dolloway, Riana Gesell, Darby Kloweit and Ben Anspaugh for their assistance in data collection and preparation and Terrance Wade for his help with statistical analysis and SPSS programming.No significant differences in muscle activity between pre- and post-training of the left lateral and medial gastrocnemius was found for the countermovement jump.References1.Chelly, M. S., Ghenem, M. A., Abid, K., Hermassi, S., Tabka, Z., & Shephard, R. J. (2010). Effects of in-season short-term plyometric training program on leg power, jump-and sprint performance of soccer players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(10), 2670-2676.2.Sozbir, K. (2016). Effects of 6-week plyometric training on vertical jump performance and muscle activation of lower extremity muscles. Sport Journal, 1-18.3.Hamilton, N., Weimar, W., Luttgens, Kathryn. (2012). The Musculoskeletal System. Kinesiology Twelfth Edition: Scientific Basis of Human Motion. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.4. Behm, D.G. & Sale, D.G. (1993). Velocity specificity of resistance training. Sports Medicine, 15, 374-388.5. Coyle, E. (2005). Improved muscular efficiency displayed as Tour de France champion matures. Journal of Applied Physiology 98, 2191–2196.AbstractChelly et al. (2010) explained collegiate soccer training as a combination of strength, power, jumping ability and acceleration. Jumping aptitude and anaerobic performance are critical for the ability of soccer players to perform at their greatest potential. Soccer involves short-term muscle power and explosive movements which are demanded in tackling, heading, frequent kicking and changing of pace throughout the game.1 Plyometric exercises often incorporated within a soccer training program, are used for increasing dynamic athletic performance, like vertical jump height, agility and lower extremity muscle activation.2Hamilton, Weimar and Luttgens (2016) discussed the importance of performing a bilateral countermovement jump by defining its role in activating major lower-limb muscles, including the gastrocnemius. By using a bilateral jump, like a box jump, a significant number of lower-limb muscles can be recruited and activated.3 Research that implemented an additional eight-week plyometric training program for collegiate soccer athletes, in-season, showed a significant increase in jump height, average jump power, and running velocities.1 An increase in countermovement jump power but not peak force was shown, implying that the increased power produced was from an increase in peak velocity.1 Behman and Sale (1993) suggested that the increase of leg power was a result from selective activation of muscles and increased recruitment of motor units.4 An increased recruitment of motor units leads to improved muscle efficiency and economy of motion, leading to increased athletic performance and reduced muscular fatigue from training.5Figure 3Table 3 t-Test: Paired Two Sample for MeansLLG Pre & Post                                      LMG Pre & PostPearson Correlation 0.25 0.365.000.712.57df 5.00P(T<=t) two-tail 0.52t Critical two-tail 2.57Table 1Mean Pre-Post Percent MVIC Lateral Gastrocnemius Activityn Left Gastrocnemius Right Gastrocnemius6 Pre (%) Post (%) Δ Pre (%) Post (%) Δx̄ 69.5 79.6 21.5 97.3 97.5 18.2Table 2Mean pre-post percent MVIC Medial Gastrocnemius Activityn Left Gastrocnemius Right Gastrocnemius6 Pre (%) Post (%) Δ Pre (%) Post (%) Δx̄ 97.8 94.1 17.3 83.6 88.3 14.1Table 4 t-Test: Paired Two Sample for MeansRLG Pre & Post                                      RMG Pre & PostPearson Correlation 0.77 0.885.000.552.57df 5.00P(T<=t) two-tail 0.98t Critical two-tail 2.57Blue: RMG Pre-practice Green: RMG post-practiceRed: LMG Pre-practice Pink: LMG Post-practiceEMG of Right and Left Medial GastrocnemiusPre- and Post-practiceBlue: RLG Pre-practiceGreen: RLG post-practiceRed: LGL Pre-practicePink: LLG Post-practiceFigure 4EMG of Right and Left Lateral Gastrocnemius Pre- and Post-practice 

The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius Activation

ValpoScholar

Valparaiso University 
ValpoScholar 
Symposium on Undergraduate Research and 
Creative Expression (SOURCE) 
Office of Sponsored and Undergraduate 
Research 
Spring 2020 
The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius 
Activation 
Ali Quillen 
Valparaiso University, ali.quillen@valpo.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus 
Recommended Citation 
Quillen, Ali, "The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius Activation" (2020). Symposium 
on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 863. 
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/863 
This Poster Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Sponsored and Undergraduate 
Research at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Symposium on Undergraduate Research and 
Creative Expression (SOURCE) by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please 
contact a ValpoScholar staff member at scholar@valpo.edu. 
This study examined the impact of a collegiate soccer practice on freshman 
female’s gastrocnemius activation while performing a power jump, as measured by 
surface EMG. The muscles analyzed included the R & L medial and lateral 
gastrocnemius. The null hypothesis stated that no significant difference in 
gastrocnemius activation would be found between post and pre-practice. Subjects 
included six, freshman, female collegiate soccer players. Delsys Trigno® Wireless 
sEMG system was used. Electrodes were placed on bellies of gastrocnemius. 
Participants completed three countermovement box jumps, with a 20-second rest 
between trials. Muscle signals were processed and sent to EMGworks® Analysis 
Software for assessment. The root mean square (RMS) of each MVIC was 
calculated and the greatest MVIC across all three scores was used for 
normalization. The box jumps were normalized to the greatest MVIC across all 
three jumps for each muscle and the maximum amplitude from each jump was 
expressed as a percentage of the MVIC. A paired two samples mean t-test indicated 
no significant differences in muscle activity from pre to post-practice box-jumps. 
Therefore, the null hypothesis was accepted. A recommendation for this study 
would be to assess the difficulty of the 90-minute practice as well as possibly assess 
different muscles for comparison.
Introduction
Results cont.
Valparaiso University Department of  Kinesiology
Ali Quillen; Kelly Helm PhD 
The Impact of Collegiate Soccer Training on Gastrocnemius Activation
Methods
Setting
• Small D1 private Midwestern University 
• Human Performance Lab
• Spring 2020
Participants
• 6 freshman Division I female soccer players 
• Procedures
• Five-minute warm-up on bicycle ergometer.
• Skin surface above right and left medial and lateral gastrocnemius 
muscles was prepared and secured with electrode sensors.
• 3 MVIC’s followed by 3 countermovement box jumps were 
performed and video recorded
• Surface electrodes detecting muscle activity sent data via Bluetooth 
to computer program.
• A paired two samples mean t-test was done for each muscle to test 
for significance between pre- and post-practice muscle activation.
Conclusion
Comparison of pre- and post-practice gastrocnemius activation 
indicated no statistically significant results between pre- and post-
practice, for any of the four muscles analyzed. The results do not 
support research that indicate that the subjects’ improved their exercise 
economy and reduced fatigue levels, leading to improved performance.5 
Researchers concluded that the 90-minute soccer practice did not have a 
significant impact on gastrocnemius activation, as measured during a 
box jump. Therefore the null hypothesis was accepted. Further research 
is needed with a larger sample size and more specific training 
intervention. 
Results
Figure 2 
Landing Phase
Figure 1 
Loading Phase 
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Helm for helping me complete all my data collection and for the many hours she put into 
assisting me with data analysis and organization. I would also like to thank the six participants on the women’s 
soccer team for participating in my study and their Head Coach for allowing them to participate. Lastly, I am 
thankful for my classmates Cody Dolloway, Riana Gesell, Darby Kloweit and Ben Anspaugh for their assistance in 
data collection and preparation and Terrance Wade for his help with statistical analysis and SPSS programming.
No significant differences in muscle activity between pre- and post-
training of the left lateral and medial gastrocnemius was found for the 
countermovement jump.
References
1.Chelly, M. S., Ghenem, M. A., Abid, K., Hermassi, S., Tabka, Z., & Shephard, R. J. (2010). 
Effects of in-season short-term plyometric training program on leg power, jump-and sprint 
performance of soccer players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(10), 2670-
2676.
2.Sozbir, K. (2016). Effects of 6-week plyometric training on vertical jump performance and 
muscle activation of lower extremity muscles. Sport Journal, 1-18.
3.Hamilton, N., Weimar, W., Luttgens, Kathryn. (2012). The Musculoskeletal System. Kinesiology 
Twelfth Edition: Scientific Basis of Human Motion. New York, NY: Mcgraw-Hill.
4. Behm, D.G. & Sale, D.G. (1993). Velocity specificity of resistance training. Sports Medicine, 15, 
374-388.
5. Coyle, E. (2005). Improved muscular efficiency displayed as Tour de France champion matures. 
Journal of Applied Physiology 98, 2191–2196.
Abstract
Chelly et al. (2010) explained collegiate soccer training as a combination of 
strength, power, jumping ability and acceleration. Jumping aptitude and anaerobic 
performance are critical for the ability of soccer players to perform at their greatest 
potential. Soccer involves short-term muscle power and explosive movements which 
are demanded in tackling, heading, frequent kicking and changing of pace 
throughout the game.1 Plyometric exercises often incorporated within a soccer 
training program, are used for increasing dynamic athletic performance, like vertical 
jump height, agility and lower extremity muscle activation.2
Hamilton, Weimar and Luttgens (2016) discussed the importance of performing a 
bilateral countermovement jump by defining its role in activating major lower-limb 
muscles, including the gastrocnemius. By using a bilateral jump, like a box jump, a 
significant number of lower-limb muscles can be recruited and activated.3 Research 
that implemented an additional eight-week plyometric training program for 
collegiate soccer athletes, in-season, showed a significant increase in jump height, 
average jump power, and running velocities.1 An increase in countermovement jump 
power but not peak force was shown, implying that the increased power produced 
was from an increase in peak velocity.1 Behman and Sale (1993) suggested that the 
increase of leg power was a result from selective activation of muscles and increased 
recruitment of motor units.4 An increased recruitment of motor units leads to 
improved muscle efficiency and economy of motion, leading to increased athletic 
performance and reduced muscular fatigue from training.5
Figure 3
Table 3 
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means
LLG Pre & Post                                      LMG Pre & Post
Pearson Correlation 0.25 0.36
5.00
0.71
2.57
df 5.00
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.52
t Critical two-tail 2.57
Table 1
Mean Pre-Post Percent MVIC Lateral Gastrocnemius Activity
n Left Gastrocnemius Right Gastrocnemius
6 Pre (%) Post (%) Δ Pre (%) Post (%) Δ
x̄ 69.5 79.6 21.5 97.3 97.5 18.2
Table 2
Mean pre-post percent MVIC Medial Gastrocnemius Activity
n Left Gastrocnemius Right Gastrocnemius
6 Pre (%) Post (%) Δ Pre (%) Post (%) Δ
x̄ 97.8 94.1 17.3 83.6 88.3 14.1
Table 4 
t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means
RLG Pre & Post                                      RMG Pre & Post
Pearson Correlation 0.77 0.88
5.00
0.55
2.57
df 5.00
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.98
t Critical two-tail 2.57
Blue: RMG Pre-practice Green: RMG post-practice
Red: LMG Pre-practice Pink: LMG Post-practice
EMG of Right and Left 
Medial Gastrocnemius
Pre- and Post-practice
Blue: RLG Pre-practice
Green: RLG post-practice
Red: LGL Pre-practice
Pink: LLG Post-practice
Figure 4
EMG of Right and Left 
Lateral Gastrocnemius 
Pre- and Post-practice 


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