Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41867249›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in physiology2026

The effect of post-activation potentiation on neuromuscular activation of smashing technique during the recovery period of meniscal injuries in elite badminton players: non-negative matrix factorization-based muscle and time-frequency coherence.

Hongkai Zhuang, Siyao Hong, Yi Xia, Yi Sheng

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Article in Frontiers in physiology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Hongkai Zhuang *School of Athletic Performance, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Siyao Hong *School of Athletic Performance, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Yi XiaSchool of Athletic Performance, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
Yi ShengSchool of Athletic Performance, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effects of three distinct post-activation potentiation (PAP) interventions-neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), elastic band resistance, and squats-on neuromuscular activation during the smashing technique in high-level badminton athletes recovering from meniscus injuries. Furthermore, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms at the neuromotor control level through analyses of muscle synergy and intermuscular coherence. Methods: Eighteen high-level male badminton athletes in the recovery phase of meniscus injuries were recruited. Surface electromyographic signals were recorded during forehand smash execution following respective interventions: squats, elastic band resistance, and NMES. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) analyzed muscle synergies, extracting synergistic module counts, muscle weights, and activation duration parameters. Time-frequency coherence (TFC) was calculated for specific muscle pairs. Results: The resistance band group (RBG) exhibited a significantly higher number of synergies (5.0 ± 0.63) compared to the squat group (SG) (3.33 ± 0.52, p = 0.005) and the electrical stimulation group (ESG) (2.33 ± 0.82, p < 0.001). In terms of muscle activation weights, the ESG showed markedly increased contributions from key lower limb muscles across multiple synergy modules. E.g., in SYN4, activation weights for gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and lateralis (GL) in the ESG (GM: 0.25 ± 0.31; GL: 0.28 ± 0.28) were significantly higher than in the SG (GM: 0.08 ± 0.20; GL: 0.06 ± 0.09) (p < 0.05), representing an increase exceeding 200%. Intermuscular coherence analysis revealed that the ESG demonstrated superior coherence across α, β, and γ bands for several trunk-limb muscle pairs. E.g., within the α band, the biceps BB-LD pair in the ESG was significantly higher than in both the SG (p = 0.002) and the EBG (p = 0.007). Conclusion: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation effectively optimizes muscle coordination patterns during smash execution in athletes recovering from meniscal injuries. It enhances activation of key muscle groups and multi-band neural coordination, representing an efficient rehabilitation strategy for neuromuscular control function optimization.

Indexed as

after-effecthigh-level badminton athletesmeniscal injurymuscle synergyneuromuscular electrical stimulation

Identifiers

PMID41867249
PMCPMC12999388

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.