Comparison of muscle activity during swimming and on the Biokinetic simulator

Introduction: The aim of the study is to evaluate the coordination similarity ratio of involvement of selected muscles (m. pectoralis major; m. latissimus dorsi; m. obliquus externus abdominis; m. triceps brachii) during the crawl swimming cycle as a target movement with imitation movement act. The research set comprised 16 elite swimmers specializing in crawl sprint tracks. Methods: The key research method was surface electromyographic analysis synchronized with video recording. The study was based on a quantitative description of electromyographic recordings of the observed movement acts. The research study has the character of an intra-individual and inter-individual comparative analysis of the coordination characteristics of the movement system. This is a sequential triangulation of a quantitative-qualitative approach and an intragroup case study with an experimental way of obtaining data. Results: Muscle activation of selected muscles during the crawl did not show a significant difference in effect size compared to the imitation movements on the Biokinetic swimming simulator.