Military-Type Workload and Footwear Alter Lower Extremity Muscle Activity During Unilateral Static Balance: Implications for Tactical Athletic Footwear Design
Autor: | Christopher Hill; Hunter DeBusk; Adam Knight; Harish Chander |
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Sprache: | Englisch |
Veröffentlicht: |
2020 |
Quelle: | Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
Online Zugang: |
https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4663/8/5/58 https://doaj.org/toc/2075-4663 doi:10.3390/sports8050058 2075-4663 https://doaj.org/article/e84f67fe957b40978b0df05a320f5416 https://doi.org/10.3390/sports8050058 https://doaj.org/article/e84f67fe957b40978b0df05a320f5416 |
Erfassungsnummer: | ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e84f67fe957b40978b0df05a320f5416 |
Zusammenfassung
Maintaining upright standing balance is critical for military personal. The impact of military footwear and occupation-related fatigue on muscle activity during balance performance has been previously documented. However, the current literature has not provided a muscle activation profile of the lower extremity during challenging conditions such as unilateral balance trials. Twenty-two recreationally active male participants (age: 22.2 ± 2.7 years; height: 177 ± 6.8 cm; mass: 79.8 ± 9.7 kg) donned two styles of military footwear (minimalist and standard) and performed a military style workload. Unilateral static balance was accessed before (PRE) and after (POST) the workload as surface electromyography was recorded on the right lower extremity. This study found that the minimalist footwear increased muscle activation prior to the workload compared to the standard footwear (co-contraction index mean difference: 0.149), whereas the standard footwear increased muscle activity after the workload (co-contraction index mean difference: 0.097). These findings suggest that footwear design characteristics affect lower extremity muscle activity differently depending on the workload condition. These findings intend to aid in the design of military footwear to maximize balance performance in a military population.