The Effects of an Acute Strongman Competition on Electromyographic Responses of the Shoulder Girdle Complex

BACKGROUND: Strongman competitions impose extreme mechanical and metabolic stress on the shoulder girdle, yet quantitative neuromuscular responses under real competition conditions remain poorly characterized. METHODS: Ten elite strongmen (Tier 4) and ten age-matched trained controls (Tier 2) completed an official Strongman Champions League competition protocol. Surface EMG was recorded from seven shoulder-girdle muscles during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) trials performed immediately before and after competition. Normalized RMS amplitudes were expressed as a relative EMG index (% group peak) and analyzed using linear mixed-effects models with Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction. RESULTS: Within-group analyses revealed no generalized pre-post reductions in normalized EMG amplitude in either group after FDR correction. However, the control group demonstrated consistent negative pre-post trends with moderate-to-large effect sizes across several muscles, particularly for mean and median descriptors. In contrast, elite strongmen exhibited smaller and more variable changes without a systematic decline. Difference-in-differences analysis showed that temporal changes generally favored the elite group. After FDR adjustment, a significant interaction was identified for the median lower trapezius amplitude (ΔΔ = 33.76 ± 9.13, pFDR = 0.021), indicating relatively greater preservation of neuromuscular activation in elite strongmen compared with controls. No contrast demonstrated a greater decline in the elite group. CONCLUSIONS: Although most effects did not survive correction for multiple testing, the observed effect-size patterns and a significantly lower trapezius interaction suggest greater stability of neuromuscular activation in elite strongmen compared with trained, non-specialized controls. These findings support muscle- and metric-specific fatigue resistance associated with long-term strongman training.