Lower limb muscular activity during walking at different speeds: Over-ground versus treadmill walking: A voluntary response evaluation

Objective To evaluate the overall lower limb muscular activity pattern during treadmill walking compared to over-ground walking. Methodology The study was conducted on 25 healthy young females. Surface electromyography was recorded from gastrocnemius, hamstrings, vasti and gluteus medius muscles during walking over-ground and treadmill at 3 different speeds (comfortable, slow and fast). The pattern of muscle activity was compared between two walking conditions at different speeds by the voluntary response index method. Voluntary response index is composed of two numeric values: magnitude which represents the strength of overall muscular activity, and similarity index which represents the resemblance of overall muscle activity. Results The main effect of walking conditions and speed as well as their interaction effect (P < 0.001) on magnitude of muscle activity were significant but not for similarity index. Conclusions The pattern of muscular activity during walking on treadmill and over-ground was similar but walking on treadmill induced higher muscular activity in the lower limb musculature.