Electromyography comparison of the effects of various footwear in the activity patterns of the peroneus longus and brevis muscles

• Published in: Journal of the mechanical behavior of biomedical materials 2018-06, Vol.82, p.126-132
• Main Authors: Roca-Dols, Andrea, Losa-Iglesias, Marta Elena, Sánchez-Gómez, Rubén, López-López, Daniel, Becerro-de-Bengoa-Vallejo, Ricardo, Calvo-Lobo, César
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1751-6161; 1878-0180
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.03.003

Peroneus longus and brevis (PLB) disorders are commonly in people with lateral ligamentous instability, ankle pain, lateral hindfoot pain and structures of the proximal compartment of the lower legs and their muscle activity is believed to be influenced by different footwear types. The proposal of this research is to evaluate the effects of five types of footwear with respect to the barefoot condition and analyze the activity patterns of PLB muscles in healthy subjects during the gait cycle. Thirty healthy subjects were recruited in a laboratory in this cross-sectional research design. While walking, electromyography (EMG) activity was measured from PLB via surface electrodes in six experimental conditions: 1) barefoot, 2) minimalist, 3) pronated control, 4) air chamber, 5) ethyl-vinyl-acetate (EVA) and 6) boost. These data were obtained and compared. The peroneus brevis showed significant reductions in the peak amplitude of the five footwear types (minimalist, pronation control, air chamber, EVA and boost) with respect to the barefoot condition in the propulsion phase of the gait cycle during walking (P = 0.034; P