Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body

The functioning of gastrocnemius-soleus (G-S) muscle complex aids in stabilizing and controlling major bony joints, it also provides the primary coordination of the foot and body mass support. Geometric positioning of the foot and transferring of plantar loads can be adversely impacted in human musculature system because of the inactivity of muscles in microgravity environment. Differential activation of the G-S muscles can be analyzed to learn more about their roles during movement, performance and injury prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze G-S muscle activity during on velcroid (V) and nonvelcroid (NV) sloping surfaces during slope walking, standing and calf raise in human Body. In the present study, it was hypothesized that muscle activity of G-S muscle complex enhances during slope walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surface. 10 volunteers performed above activities on predefined slope angles of 0° ± 6°, ± 12° and ± 18° for both NV and V sloping surfaces. Biopac® data acquisition system was used to obtain EMG signals to analyze the muscular activities in time and frequency domains. It was observed that soleus muscle activity was increased by 22% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 21% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination on V-surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle the muscle activity was enhanced on V sloping surface by 20% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 15% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination respectively. ANOVA results demonstrate the muscle activity increased substantially (p < 0.05) during these tasks being performed on V sloping surface. Further analysis indicates that muscle activity is stronger for soleus muscle as compared to gastrocnemius muscle. Also, there is no other similar work reported previously, that has been done for this purpose. This information about enhanced muscle activity is envisaged to have important clinical implications as it will play an important role in training and rehabilitation activities along with creating a countermeasures solution necessary when G-S muscle experience disuse.