Electromyographic Activity of Soleus and Tibialis Anterior Muscles during Ascending and Descending Stairs of Different Heights

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the two leg muscles (Tibialis anterior [TA] and Soleus [SOL]) during ascending and descending stairs with different heights (10 cm, 15.5 cm and 18 cm). Methods: Eighteen female university students aged between 20 and 36 yr par-ticipated in the study. Data were collected using a ME6000 Biomonitor EMG System (revision MT-M6T16-0) and surface electrodes. Results: The EMG activity of the SOL muscle was significantly higher than the TA muscle activity (P = 0.001). Besides, the muscle activity level of the SOL muscle was significantly higher when ascending compared to descending condi-tion (P = 0.001). The stair height had no significant effect of the EMG activity of the two muscles. Conclusion: These findings highlight that the two muscles are not equally af-fected by the stair height during ascending and descending condition. The re-sults also indicate that there is no preference between different stair heights in terms of muscular effort.

Keywords

• Stair height
• Stair gait
• Electromyographic