The impact of limb velocity on the coactivation pattern of the elbow and knee antagonists

A study was made of the coactivation patterns of the knee and elbow antagonistic muscle pair during maximal effort flexion and extension at various isokinetic speeds. The data are that the antagonist muscle tends to reduce its coactivation level at the initial phase of limb motion, and to increase its activity level during the terminal phase of the movement as the limb velocity is increased. Such coactivation patterns are apparently intended to facilitate the initial acceleration of the limb and to provide dynamic braking at the termination of the movement so that accuracy and prevention of overshoot are manifested. This is an important contribution towards the implementation of a push-pull, synergistic FES (functional electrical stimulation) system described previously.<>