Description
The EMG in Applied Sport Initiative, sponsored by Delsys, supports practitioners working in elite sport who are interested in investigating muscle inhibition using EMG alongside traditional assessment methods. Practitioners with an academic collaborator are also encouraged to apply. The initiative is designed to bridge the gap between research and applied sport, helping practitioners integrate evidence-based neuromuscular assessment into real-world decision-making.
Project Outline
Following musculoskeletal injury, athletes often exhibit a range of biomechanical and physiological changes, including reduced strength, impaired coordination, and altered movement patterns. In applied sports settings, practitioners commonly rely on measures such as force production, strength testing, and jump assessments to monitor rehabilitation progress and inform return-to-play decisions.
While these approaches provide valuable information on performance outcomes, they provide less detail on the underlying neuromuscular strategies contributing to the movement or force outputs measured. Given that multiple muscles contribute to these outputs, understanding underlying neuromuscular strategies remains a key challenge in both research and practice.
Electromyography (EMG) provides a means to examine muscle activation patterns and the contribution of individual muscles during movement. Traditionally, EMG amplitude is normalised to a reference contraction, such as a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). However, in early-stage rehabilitation, performing MVCs, or even submaximal efforts, may be impractical due to injury risk, pain, or fatigue.
Muscle inhibition refers to a reduction in the ability of a muscle to be fully activated due to neural mechanisms, often following injury or joint dysfunction. While muscle inhibition is a recognised concept in neuromuscular research, practical and accessible methods for monitoring it in applied sport settings remain limited. Inhibition may reflect altered neuromuscular control, including changes in motor unit recruitment and coordination, rather than purely structural or strength deficits, and can be explored without the need for traditional MVC-based normalisation.
In applied sports settings, muscle inhibition can be monitored through EMG by examining changes in activation during a contraction and across a rehabilitation programme. Rather than relying solely on amplitude-based measures or normalisation to an MVC, inhibition can be assessed using a combination of EMG-derived features, including frequency characteristics, and measures of signal complexity, in addition to signal amplitude. Together, these metrics provide a more comprehensive view of neuromuscular function, capturing not only how much a muscle is activated, but also how activation is structured and sustained throughout a task. This multi-metric approach forms the available reports within Delsys Trigno Discover software, and will be used within this initiative, focusing on EMG data collected during isometric contractions.
This initiative aims to bridge the gap between research and applied sport by exploring the use of EMG-derived inhibition metrics in real-world rehabilitation settings. The successful applicant will conduct a pilot investigation (e.g., case study, case series) into the application of metrics derived from the available reports in Delsys Trigno Discover software, as primary outcome measures during rehabilitation or return-to-play, with the goal of evaluating its practical utility for monitoring neuromuscular recovery.
Applicants working in the following areas are encouraged:
- Strength and conditioning
- Sport science
- Athletic training
- Physiotherapy
- Rehabilitation
- Return to play
Funding available
- The successful applicant will be awarded a 6-month loan of a Trigno Lite system, with 4x Trigno Avanti sensors from Delsys. All EMG related consumables, hardware and software will be provided to facilitate the project.
- Product and application-based support and supervision will be provided by Delsys throughout the loan.
Eligibility
- Practitioner Application (individual)
The applicant is currently working as a practitioner within elite sport (e.g., club, institution, organisation). - Practitioner–Academic Collaboration (team)
A practitioner currently working within elite sport partners with an academic to complete the deliverables of the initiative. The academic involved in the collaboration must be an ISBS member in good standing. Collaboration of this kind is encouraged.
Application Guidelines
Applications should include the following:
- A proposal of up to two A4 pages (single line spacing, Arial font size 12, left justified, 2.54 cm margins) including:
- Title of the project
- Goal and objectives
- Current return to play and performance monitoring strategy (protocols, exercises, metrics)
- The gap EMG and Inhibition reports through Delsys software Trigno Discover will fill
- How ethical considerations will be addressed, including participant consent, data handling, and whether institutional ethical approval is required
- Timeline
- A CV of the applicant (maximum 2 pages) including: contact information, current position and work experience, education, awards, qualifications and skills, and list of publications where relevant.
- A written statement of support from an applied and academic partner to confirm their involvement (if applicable).
Conditions of Funding
- The project must begin with 3 months of the award being made
- The project duration should not exceed 6 months
- Final project outputs to be determined and agreed upon post award, but some example outputs include:
- Submit a 500-word report for the ISBS newsletter within six months from the end of the project.
- Contribute to a Delsys Blog post.
- Within 1 year of the award being made, produce and release a presentation of the project carried out in one of the following forms: online blog/webinar; ISBS online event; or, ISBS conference.
- Other academic outputs
- Acknowledge the Delsys/ISBS grant when presenting and publishing any associated work
Review Process and Evaluation Criteria
A review committee will be formed in accordance with the Research and Projects Committee (R&PC) procedures, with the addition of at least one Delsys member in the judging panel. The VP for Research and Projects is responsible for structuring the review process.
The highest-ranked proposal that meets the criteria will be funded.
Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria.
- Fit of the project to the areas described above.
- Quality and suitability of the proposed project and of the applicant.
- Alignment with the purposes of ISBS, with a specific focus on the "bridging the gap" mission.
How to Apply
Applications should be submitted to the VP of Research and Projects via email by the 29th of June 2026. Announcement of successful applicants will be made at the ISBS 2026 Conference in Loughborough (UK).
