An action recognition method based on a surface electromyography signal includes: obtaining surface electromyography signals of multiple channels (101 and 301) determining a valid surface electromyography signal according to the surface electromyography signals of the multiple channels (102 and 302) determining a frequency of the valid surface electromyography signal (103 and 303) and determining, according to the frequency of the valid surface electromyography signal, a body action corresponding to the surface electromyography signals of the multiple channels (104). A frequency of a surface electromyography signal is irrelevant to a feature such as signal strength therefore, the method can significantly improve accuracy of action recognition based on a surface electromyography signal. Moreover, with a frequency being used as a recognition feature, a user does not need to conduct an action with a large range, which brings better user experience. In addition, the action recognition method based on a surface electromyography signal further includes: extracting an amplitude feature of the valid surface electromyography signal (304) and determining, according to the amplitude feature of the valid surface electromyography signal and the frequency of the valid surface electromyography signal, a body action corresponding to the surface electromyography signals of the multiple channels (305). The method can not only improve accuracy of recognizing a surface electromyography signal, but also can increase recognition types of body actions.