One of the purposes of footwear is to assist locomotion, but some footwear types seem to restrict natural foot motion, which may affect the contribution of ankle plantar flexor muscles to propulsion. This study examined the effects of different footwear conditions on the activity of ankle plantar flexors during walking. Ten healthy habitually shod individuals walked overground in shoes, barefoot and in flip-flops while fine-wire electromyography (EMG) activity was recorded from flexor hallucis longus (FHL), soleus (SOL), and medial and lateral gastrocnemius (MG and LG) muscles. EMG signals were peak-normalised and analysed in the stance phase using Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM). We found highly individual EMG patterns. Although walking with shoes required higher muscle activity for propulsion than walking barefoot or with flip-flops in most participants, this did not result in statistically significant differences in EMG amplitude between footwear conditions in any muscle (p > 0.05). Time to peak activity showed the lowest coefficient of variation in shod walking (3.5, 7.0, 8.0 and 3.4 for FHL, SOL, MG and LG, respectively). Future studies should clarify the sources and consequences of individual EMG responses to different footwear.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2020.102474 | DOI Listing |
Gait Posture
December 2024
Department of Sport Biomechanics and Motor Behavior, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. Electronic address:
Background: Altered muscle activity during gait can change the function of the musculoskeletal system and increase the risk of injury. This systematic review and meta-analysis study aimed to investigate the effect of wearing heeled shoes during gait on muscle activity.
Research Question: Does wearing different heeled shoes (low: 1.
Sci Data
December 2024
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, Raleigh, 27695, USA.
The role of the human ankle joint in activities of daily living, including walking, maintaining balance, and participating in sports, is of paramount importance. Ankle joint dorsiflexion and plantarflexion functionalities mainly account for ground clearance and propulsion power generation during locomotion tasks, where those functionalities are driven by the contraction of ankle joint skeleton muscles. Studies of corresponding muscle contractility during ankle dynamic functions will facilitate us to better understand the joint torque/power generation mechanism, better diagnose potential muscular disorders on the ankle joint, or better develop wearable assistive/rehabilitative robotic devices that assist in community ambulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeuroSci
December 2024
Institute of Clinical Neurophysiology, Division of Neurology, University Medical Center Ljubljana, Zaloška cesta 7, 1525 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
In ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE), the degree of neuropathic changes, the sensitivity of needle electromyography (EMG) in individual ulnar muscles, and the utility of individual EMG parameters are controversial. I compared qualitative needle EMG findings in two ulnar-innervated hands muscles and two ulnar-innervated forearm muscles in a group of previously reported UNE patients. Altogether, 170 UNE patients (175 arms) were studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Funct Morphol Kinesiol
December 2024
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Rehabilitation, Biwako Professional University of Rehabilitation, Higashiomi 527-0145, Japan.
Background/objectives: The active straight leg raise requires intricate coordination between the hip, knee, pelvis, and spine. Despite its complexity, limited research has explored the relationship between lower limb raising velocity and trunk muscle motor control during an active straight leg raise in healthy individuals. This study aimed to explore the potential effects of increased lower limb raising velocity on core muscle contractions during active straight leg raises.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Funct Morphol Kinesiol
December 2024
Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Avenida Universidad 1115, Ocotlan 47810, Jalisco, Mexico.
: The objective of this paper is to introduce a method to measure the force or pressure over the carpal tunnel indirectly, using a new device to drive the pointer of a computer system. The measurements were compared with those obtained using an ergonomic mouse. Simultaneously, measurements of muscular stress on the digitorum extensor muscle were performed to correlate the applied force against muscle activity.
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