Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

Pull-up and modified pull-up tests are frequently used for shoulder muscles
endurance evaluation by physical educators. Despite of using these tests, the
difference of muscle activation pattern in pull-up and modified pull-up tests has
not been documented clearly. However, the role of some important muscles
such as anterior deltoid, posterior deltoid, trapezius and latissimus dorsi have
not yet examined during these tests. This study aimed to determine effects of
pull-up and modified pull-up tests on the EMGs recordings from selected
muscles including anterior deltoid, posterior deltoid, biceps, triceps, pectoralis
major, trapezius and latissimus dorsi. Ten able-bodied males (age: 25.32 ±
3.95 yrs; weight: 72.31 ± 7.24 kg) who were able to do at least 5 pull-ups were
selected to participate in the study. Surface electromyographic data were
recorded from selected muscles using De Luca and Basmajian’s method.
ANOVA with repeated measures was employed for comparison of
electromyographic activity in the selected muscles during pull-up and modified
pull-up tests (p  0.05). The results revealed that in modified pull-up test
anterior deltoid, posterior deltoid and trapezius muscles activation were
significantly higher in comparison with pull-up test, while the EMG activity of
biceps, triceps and pectoralis major was significantly higher in pull-up test.