RESEARCH ARTICLE
The Influence in Airforce Soldiers Through Wearing Certain Types of Army-Issue Footwear on Muscle Activity in the Lower Extremities
Christoph Schulze*, 1, 2, Tobias Lindner1, Katharina Schulz1, Susanne Finze1, Guenther Kundt3, Wolfram Mittelmeier1, Rainer Bader1
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2011Volume: 5
First Page: 302
Last Page: 306
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-5-302
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001105010302
Article History:
Received Date: 9/2/2011Revision Received Date: 8/6/2011
Acceptance Date: 10/6/2011
Electronic publication date: 10/8/2011
Collection year: 2011
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
The objective of the study was to analyse the influence of the shape and material of the military footwear worn by soldiers on muscle activity in the lower extremities, and whether such footwear could explain specific strain complaints and traumatic lesions in the region of the lower extremities.
37 soldiers (one woman, 36 men) aged between 20 and 53 years underwent a dynamic electromyography (EMG) analysis. Wearing – one pair at a time - five different types of shoes, the subjects were asked to walk on a treadmill, where an EMG of the following muscles was taken: M. tibialis anterior, M. gastrocnemius mediales, M. gastrocnemius laterales, M. peroneus longus and M. rectus femoris.
When the subjects wore old-fashioned outdoor jogging shoes increased muscle activity was observed in the region of the M. peroneus longus. This can be interpreted as a sign of the upper ankle joint requiring increased support and thus explain the higher susceptibility to sprains experienced in connection with these shoes. When the subjects wore combat boots, increased activity was observed in the region of the Mm. tibialis anterior and rectus femoris. The specific activity differences that were observed in particular muscles may have influence in the occurrence of certain disorders, especially in untrained recruits. This can be linked to various strain-related disorders such as shin splints and patellofemoral pain. The data obtained using EMG can provide information about the likelihood of a clustering of the complaints experienced by soldiers during training or active service.
