Electromyography activity of triceps surae and tibialis anterior muscles related to various sports shoes

Triceps surae (TS) and tibialis anterior (TA) activation patterns have not yet been studied under different types of sport shoes. We hypothesized that sports shoes may reduce the activity patterns of these muscles in relation to barefoot condition. Thus, our main aim was to evaluate the activity patterns of TS and TA muscles in healthy people during all gait phases using five types of sport shoes with respect to barefoot condition. A total sample of thirty healthy participants, mean age 36.20 ± 8.50, was recruited in a podiatry laboratory following an observational research design. During walking and running, electromyography signals were recorded from TS and TA muscles using surface electrodes in the following experimental situations: 1.) barefoot, 2.) minimalist, 3.) pronated control, 4.) air chamber, 5.) ethyl-vinyl-acetate and 6.) boost. The TS and TA showed significant reductions (P < 0.05) in the peak amplitude of different sport shoes types with respect to the barefoot condition in different phases of the gait cycle during walking and running. Nevertheless, the boost sport shoe produced statistically significant increases in the peak amplitude of the gastrocnemius medialis muscle in comparison with the barefoot condition in the midstance phase of the gait cycle during running (P = 0.047). In addition, the pronation control and air chamber sport shoes produced statistically significant increases in the peak amplitude of the TA muscle with respect to the barefoot condition in the contact phase of the gait cycle (P = 0.021; P = 0.013), respectively, during running. Despite TS and TA muscles activity patterns seem to be reduced using different sport shoes types with respect to the barefoot condition in different phases of the gait cycle during walking and running, some sport shoes may increase this muscular activity in specific phases of the gait cycle during running.