text: Surface EMG can measure only superficial muscles and even then it is hard to narrow down the signal to a single muscle.Electrical characteristics
  The electrical source is the muscle membrane potential of about –90 mV. Measured EMG potentials range between less than 50 μV and up to 30 mV, depending on the muscle under observation. Typical repetition rate of muscle motor unit firing is about 7–20 Hz, depending on the size of the muscle (eye muscles versus seat (gluteal) muscles), previous axonal damage and other factors. Damage to motor units can be expected at ranges between 450 and 780 mV. Procedure outcomes
  Normal results
  Muscle tissue at rest is normally electrically inactive. After the electrical activity caused by the irritation of needle insertion subsides, the electromyograph should detect no abnormal spontaneous activity (i.e., a muscle at rest should be electrically silent, with the exception of the area of the neuromuscular junction, which is, under normal circumstances, very spontaneously active). When the muscle is voluntarily contracted, action potentials begin to appear. As the strength of the muscle contraction is increased, more and more muscle fibers produce action potentials. 