In the case study Mbody is used to measure EMG activity during an actual soccer match in order to find out how the workload induced by this physically demanding sport will affect the activity of two important lower limb’s group of muscle, quadriceps and hamstrings.

1. Myontec Mbody Case study
Case study based on the research by R. Kalema
NEUROMUSCULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF QUADRICEPS AND
HAMSTRINGS MUSCLE DURING A SOCCER MATCH

3. CASE BACKGROUND
Rudy Kalema is a physical trainer and a sport science adviser with almost
10 years experience in elite football. During his career he had worked with
Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht (Belgium), Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi
(Fnland), AL-Shabab FC (Saudi Arabia) and Koninklijke Sint-Truidense
Voetbalvereninging (Belgium).
Kalema was introduced with Mbody during his studies at the University of
Jyväskylä where smart shorts were used in several projects. Later, while
working as a professional sport scientist in STVV Mbody was used by
Kalema in collaboration with the team’s physiotherapys as a screening
device to monitor muscle activity in order to prevent injuries and optimize
rehabilitation processes.
In 2012 Kalema has published a study, “Neuromuscular characteristics
of quadriceps and hamstring muscle during a soccer match”, on
implementing Mbody muscle monitor system into soccer. The purpose of
the study was to investigate the influence of fatigue on athletes
performance during an actual soccer match through and EMG activity of
the right and left quadriceps and hamstrings.
“Injuries often occur in training or matches. During the match you have the
actual load and movement pattern of the soccer players. I thought that
using Mbody in the actual game would open a new dimension and
provide us with the insight data. It could give us answers to the questions
like: What is happening with muscle during the match? How muscles are
behaving at the end of the match? Where majority of observed injuries
occur?”, says Kalema.

4. Soccer is the world’s biggest team sport with an estimate of 230 million
players. It is a complex contact sport with high technical and tactical and
physiological demands. In soccer injuries are a recognized problem.
Studies on soccer injuries risk suggest that 65% - 95% of the players
have an injury during the season (Ekstrand et al. 2005).
In female soccer most common injury is a knee injury, also known as
ACL-tear. Quadriceps and hamstrings are functionally important to
control stability of the knee joint complex. Studies on ACL injury
mechanisms have suggested that the hamstring muscle has a crucial role
in protecting the ACL during the movements (Gehring et al. 2009). It
has ben suggested that fatigue is an important factor that may influence
stabilizing control and thus cause ACL injuries, especially between the
75th and 90th minutes of the game (Hawkins et al. 1999).
Concerning male football, it appears that thigh muscle strain injuries are
among the most common and account for 10% to 23% of all acute
injuries. The injury with the most prevalence is the hamstring strain,
which account for 12-16% of total injuries(Caine et al. 2010, 214- 215).
THE ROLE OF THE MUSCLE CONTROL IN SOCCER
230 MILJ
SOCCER PLAYERS WORLDWIDE
INJURY RATE IN SOCCER PER 1,000
ATHLETE
7,3
WOMEN
7,6
MEN
65.3%
AFFECT
LOWER LIMB
65.6%
AFFECT
LOWER LIMB
SOURCE: NCAA SPORTS INJURY FACT SHEETS. NCAA SPORT INJURY FACT SHEETS ARE PRODUCED BY THE DATALYS
CENTER FOR SPORTS INJURY RESEARCH AND PREVENTION IN COLLABORATION WITH THE NATIONAL COLLEGIATE
ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION, AND STOP SPORTS INJURIES. THE DATALYS CENTER MANAGES THE NCAA INJURY
SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM.

5. Fatigue represents a reduction in the ability of muscle to generate force and
in the context of football, it has been often related with injury. Surface
electromyography is a valuable technique for evaluating muscle activation
and fatigue which has never previously been applied to monitor muscle
activation during a real football match. The development of washable textile
electrodes has opened up possibilities to investigate muscular activity in non-
laboratory settings, without skin preparation and wires hanging around the
body. It has also been shown to be a valid and feasible method for assessing
the average rectified value of electromyography (EMG).
The purpose of this study was to measure EMG activity during an actual
soccer match in order to find out how the workload induced by this physically
demanding sport will affect the activity of two important lower limb’s group of
muscle, quadriceps and hamstrings. Muscle activity and inactivity
were compared between the first 15 minutes of the 1st half (PRE) and
last 15 minutes of the 2nd half (POST).
Eight professional players, from the Finnish soccer league, volunteered
for these study. All of the subjects were selected if not injured or
recovering from injury at the time of assessments. Players professional
experience in soccer was between 5-8 years and training volume was
4-6 sessions plus 1-2 matches per week. Study protocol was conducted
in both laboratory and the field conditions. On the first day the subject
performed an isometric maximal voluntary contraction in knee
extension machine, followed by a 3 stage treadmill running test while
wearing Mbody shorts. On the other day measurements of muscle
activity was performed during three unofficial soccer matches.
NEUROMUSCULAR CHARACTERISTICS OF QUADRICEPS AND
HAMSTRING MUSCLE DURING A SOCEER MATCH

6.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ LH RH LQ RQ
Inactivaty Light Moderate Vigorous
Muscleactivity(%ofrecordingtime)
PRE
POST
*
*
* *
* *
*
*
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
LH RH LQ RQ
AverageEMG(%EMGMVC)
PRE
POST
*
*
PRE and POST muscle activity profile of LQ , LH, RQ and RH. Inactivity time (threshold set as > 2% EMGMVC , light activity time (> aEMG at 6km/h), moderate activity time
(> aEMG at 12 km/h) and vigorous activity time (> aEMG at 16 km/h) (*p< .05) (Kalema 2012).
Comparison EMG activity of LQ, LH, RQ and RH during the first (PRE) and last 15 minutes (POST) of the match. (*p< .05) Kalema 2012).
RESULTS

7. CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER ACTIONS
Inside Feedback from
the movement and
Quality of the movement
Athletes learning
& Self monitoring
Real time Analysis, Long
distance Control and Fast
feedback for athlete &
coach/physio
ADVANTAGES
OF MUSCLE
MONITORING
ü During this study muscle activity of lower limbs was measured in the real
soccer match conidtions for the first time. As the resultes have show'n EMG
activity has a tendency to decrease during fatigue at the end of the game. The
results show that players spent more time at the lowest EMG intensity and that
while inactivity time increases in the last 15 minutes vigorous activity time
decreases. (Kalema 2012)
ü These fluctuations in the neuromuscular activity will probably have an impact
on force generation of the muscles and indirectly cause injuries.The present
finding represents an important step in injury prevention, rehabilitation and
conditioning field. With the help of Mbody it is now possible to monitor the
individual changes in the neuromuscular activity of two important muscles, in
fatigue conditions to and see what is the actual time spent on the field before
the maximum muscle load is reached and player becomes more exposed to the
potential high risk injury. (Kalema 2012)
ü Results give a promising starting point for using EMG in studying performance
and preventing injuries during intensive sport activities such as football (Kalema
2012).

8. THE MYONTEC TEAM
“
”
The Myontec solution (Mbody) incorporates intelligent clothing with wireless
connectivity and mobile interfaces. This short - packed with wearable technology
such as built-in textile sensors - measures activity of your muscle groups,
Quadriceps and Hamstrings on both legs. The data can be followed on your mobile
phone or pad, both during and after your exercise.
“
”
Behind the Finnish company Myontec there is an international and versatile team of
professionals who have gained success in Olympic level sports, and in the field of software
engineering, university and research.

9. Myontec is an innovator. It is an entrepreneurial company,
taking the invention of muscle measurement to
marketable products and applications. This by integrating
existing data and adding unique information to it. Thereby
creating an additional dimension to better understand
and manage the human body.
“
”
To learn more visit www.myontec.com

10. REFERENCES
Kalema, R., 2012. Department of Biology of Physical, University of Jyvaskyla. Master’s Thesis in Exercise Physiology: Quadriceps and hamstring muscle EMG activity during a football match.
https://jyx.jyu.fi/dspace/bitstream/handle/123456789/41027/URN%3aNBN%3afi%3ajyu-201303071300.pdf?sequence=1
NCAA, Men’s soccer injuries, Data from the 2004/05-2008/09 Seasons https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/NCAA_M_Soccer_Injuries_WEB.pdf
NCAA, Women’s soccer injuries, Data from the 2004/05-2008/09 Seasons http://www.datalyscenter.org/f73d016ffb_sites/datalyscenter.org/files/NCAA_W_Soccer_Injuries_HiRes.pdf
Ekstrand, J., Hägglund, M. & Walden, M. 2005. UEFA Champions League Study: A prospective Study of Injury in Professional Football during the 2001-2002 Season. British Journal of Sports Medicine 39(8),
542-546.
Gehring, D., Melnyk, M. & Gollhofer, A. 2009. Gender and fatigue have influence on the knee joint control strategies during landing. Journal of Clinical Biomechanics 24(1), 82-87.
Hawkins, R. & Fuller, C. 1999. A prospective epidemiological study of injuries in four English professional football clubs. British Journal of Sports Medicine 33(3), 196- 203.
Caine D. J., Harmer P. A. & Schiff, M. A. 2010. Epidemiology of injury in olympic sports. Wiley-Blackwell.