Background: Life in modern society has become convenient, but the lack
of exercise due to a sedentary lifestyle has led to muscle weakness. The
quadriceps femoris is essential for walking, standing, and using stairs in daily
life. Muscle weakness can lead directly to impaired function. Squatting is the
most representative exercise for effective muscle development and increasing the
knee extensor strength. This study examined the effects of ankle angle during
wall squats on the muscle activity of the vastus medialis oblique (VMO), vastus
lateralis (VL), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF), rectus abdominis (RA),
and erector spinae (ES) to determine which ankle angle can better strengthen the
vastus medialis oblique as a method of rehabilitation training after a knee joint
injury. Methods: All subjects (n = 20) performed the following three types of
wall squats randomly: (1) GWS (General Wall Squat), (2) WSD 10° (Wall
Squat with dorsiflexion 10°), and (3) WSP 10° (Wall Squat with
plantarflexion 10°). Each subject completed all three kinds of wall
squatting exercises three different times, and the muscle activity data of the
VMO, VL, RF, BL, RA, and ES were recorded. Results: Compared to GWS exercise, the VMO and RF muscle activity
increased significantly under WSP 10° exercise (p
