ArticleFrontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology2026
Lower-limb muscle activation patterns during the taekwondo roundhouse kick in elite and youth athletes: a functional principal component analysis.
Article in Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 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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Abstract
Objective: The taekwondo roundhouse kick is a fundamental and performance-critical technique that requires precise lower-limb muscle coordination. However, previous studies have mainly focused on discrete electromyographic variables, providing limited insight into waveform-level variations across the kicking cycle, particularly between athletes of different age and training levels. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate lower-limb surface electromyographic (sEMG) waveform differences during the roundhouse kick between elite and youth taekwondo athletes using functional principal component analysis (FPCA). Methods: Thirty-eight male taekwondo athletes were included (19 elite, 19 youth). Surface electromyography was recorded bilaterally from seven trunk and lower-limb muscles, including the rectus abdominis, gluteus maximus, rectus femoris, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, lateral gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior, and three-dimensional kinematic data were collected synchronously during standardized roundhouse kicks. Time-normalized sEMG waveforms were analyzed using FPCA to identify dominant and secondary modes of variation. Group differences in principal component scores were tested using independent-samples comparisons, with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction applied across muscle × component tests. Results: After FDR correction, significant between-group differences were identified in four muscle-component combinations. In the support leg, significant differences were observed in PC1 of the left tibialis anterior (p_FDR = 0.001, Cohen's d = 1.726) and left rectus femoris (p_FDR = 0.029, Cohen's d = 1.058), whereas the left lateral gastrocnemius differed in PC2 (p_FDR = 0.040, Cohen's d = 0.943). In the swing leg, the right biceps femoris differed in PC1 (p_FDR = 0.015, Cohen's d = 1.206). Conclusion: Elite and youth taekwondo athletes showed distinct muscle-specific and phase-dependent neuromuscular organization during the roundhouse kick, particularly in support-leg control and swing-leg posterior-chain regulation. FPCA revealed whole-waveform differences that were not captured by conventional discrete measures, providing useful evidence for technique analysis, youth athlete development, and more targeted taekwondo training.
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