Background and Purpose
Flywheel training devices offer several unique characteristics, including the ability to apply high effort throughout the entire range of motion and eccentric overload. The purpose of this study was to compare flywheel vs traditional weight stack knee extensions on muscle activation and other neuromuscular outcomes.
Methods
17 healthy male individuals were randomly assigned to either perform leg extensions on a flywheel training device (FRT; n=9) or a traditional weight stack device (TRT; n=9). Both groups completed 12 sessions across 5 weeks, with each session involving four sets of 7 reps of unilateral leg extensions. The FRT group was asked to use maximal effort during the concentric phase and then a delayed braking action to target a brief period of eccentric overload. Measures of isometric muscle strength, rate of force development (RFD), and muscle activation with surface EMG were taken before and after the training intervention.
Results
The key finding from this study:
Key Takeaways
Because each individual muscle fiber can produce greater total force during eccentric actions than concentric actions, there tends to be a drop in total muscle activation during the eccentric phase of traditional resistance training exercises. This study highlights how flywheel training can maintain higher eccentric muscle activation due to the eccentric loading it offers.
Flywheel training exercises also provide different muscle activation patterns during the concentric phase than traditional methods. For example, the highest effort during traditional resistance training exercises occurs at the “sticking point” of the movement. In contrast, flywheel exercises allow for high muscle effort across the entire range of motion.