A comparison in the muscle activity of the abductor hallucis and the medial longitudinal arch angle during toe curl and short foot exercises.

Objective: To compare the muscle activity of the abductor hallucis (AbdH) and the medial longitudinal arch (MLA) angle during toe curl (TC) and short foot (SF) exercises while sitting or in one-leg standing position.

Design: Two-way repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the effects of exercise type and position on the muscle activity of the AbdH and the MLA angle.

Participants: Twenty subjects with normal feet participated in this study.

Main Outcome Measures: The muscle activity of the AbdH and the MLA angle were measured during TC and SF exercises while sitting or in one-leg standing position.

Results: The EMG activity of AbdH in SF exercise was significantly greater than during TC exercise in both exercise postural positions (p < 0.001). During the SF exercise, the EMG activity of the AbdH in the one-leg standing position was significantly higher than that while sitting (p < 0.001). The MLA angle in SF exercise was significantly smaller than during TC exercise in both postural positions (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: These results suggest that SF exercise is a more useful strengthening exercise than TC exercise in activating the AbdH muscle.