Real-time electromyography feedback to change muscle activity during complex movements

A training method of changing relative muscle contribution in a human subject while the human subject is performing a complex movement, comprising:

• (a) the human subject executing the complex movement,
• wherein the executing complex movement distinguishes a stance phase where a leg is in contact with a surface followed by a swing phase where the leg is swinging through air and is not in contact with the surface, and
• wherein during the performing complex movement the leg cycles through a sequence of stance phases and swing phases;
• (b) placing a first electrode over a first muscle of the human subject wherein the first muscle is a gastrocnemius, and through the first electrode computer recording a first time-series of electromyography from the first muscle over a first stance phase, and computer processing the recorded electromyography from the first muscle;
• (c) placing a second electrode over a second muscle of the human subject wherein the second muscle is a soleus of the same leg of the human subject, wherein the first muscle and the second muscle are synergistic muscles to each other, and through the second electrode computer recording a second time-series of electromyography from the second muscle over the first stance phase, and computer processing the recorded electromyography from the second muscle, wherein the computer processing of the computer recorded electromyography through the first electrode and the second electrode comprises applying a bandpass filter, rectifying the electromyography, applying a lowpass filtering to create a linear envelope for the first muscle and a linear envelope for the second muscle, and normalizing the electromyography for the first muscle and for the second muscle to an electromyography standard;
• (d) computer determining a data point for the first stance phase,
• wherein the data point is determined as a relative muscle contribution of the processed first muscle electromyography and the processed second muscle electromyography over the first stance phase, and
• wherein the determining step occurs during the first swing phase immediately after a completion of the first stance phase and prior to a start of a subsequent stance phase immediately following the first swing phase;
• and
• (e) providing feedback of the computer determined data point to the human subject performing the complex movement during the first swing phase and prior to the start of the subsequent stance phase immediately following the first swing phase,
• wherein the human subject uses the computer determined data point as feedback to change the relative muscle contribution of the first muscle and the second muscle in the subsequent stance phase,
• wherein the feedback of the data point is in the form of a visual, auditory, or tactile cue, and
• wherein the feedback is informative to the human subject whether to increase or decrease activation of the first muscle relative to activation of the second muscle, or vice versa, during the subsequent stance phase.