Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running

Purpose: It is uncertain how fatigue protocol and overweight affect electromyography (EMG) activity of lower limb muscles. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how excessive body weight and fatigue influence the co-contraction of the ankle joint during running. Methods: Forty-eight females w...

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Main Authors: AmirAli Jafarnezhadgero, Nastaran Moradzadeh, Ehsan Fakhri Mirzang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Negah Institute for Scientific Communication 2025-07-01
Series:Physical Treatments
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ptj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-650-en.pdf
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author AmirAli Jafarnezhadgero
Nastaran Moradzadeh
Ehsan Fakhri Mirzang
author_facet AmirAli Jafarnezhadgero
Nastaran Moradzadeh
Ehsan Fakhri Mirzang
author_sort AmirAli Jafarnezhadgero
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: It is uncertain how fatigue protocol and overweight affect electromyography (EMG) activity of lower limb muscles. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how excessive body weight and fatigue influence the co-contraction of the ankle joint during running. Methods: Forty-eight females were divided into four groups. The first group consisted of individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 kg/m² and normal foot (navicular drop: 4 to 10 mm). The second group consisted of individuals who had a BMI within the normal range (BMI <25 kg/m²) and had feet that rolled inward (a navicular drop of more than 10 mm). The third group included individuals who had a BMI of 25 kg/m² or higher and normal feet (navicular drop: 4 to 10 mm). The fourth group included individuals with a BMI of 25 kg/m² or higher and flat feet (navicular drop: More than 10 mm). The running task was done at approximately 3.2 m/s over an 18-meter distance before and after the fatigue protocol. The walkway had a force plate embedded at its midpoint. Activity from the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF) and semi tendinosus (ST) were collected using a surface bipolar EMG system.  Results: The results demonstrated significant main effects of “group” for general ankle co-contraction during the loading phase. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated significantly greater general ankle co-contraction ​​in the overweight/normal foot group compared to the other groups.  Conclusion: The general ankle co-contraction values were higher in the overweight groups than in the normal groups, which can be associated with overloads on the ankle joint. These findings can be useful for designing rehabilitation protocols for overweight people with and without pronated feet.
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spelling doaj-art-eec51debb7c740a9acb250ae345c40372025-08-20T03:25:00ZengNegah Institute for Scientific CommunicationPhysical Treatments2423-58302025-07-01153175182Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During RunningAmirAli Jafarnezhadgero0Nastaran Moradzadeh1Ehsan Fakhri Mirzang2 Department of Sport Management and Biomechanics, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Education Sciences and Psychology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. Purpose: It is uncertain how fatigue protocol and overweight affect electromyography (EMG) activity of lower limb muscles. The purpose of this research was to evaluate how excessive body weight and fatigue influence the co-contraction of the ankle joint during running. Methods: Forty-eight females were divided into four groups. The first group consisted of individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 25 kg/m² and normal foot (navicular drop: 4 to 10 mm). The second group consisted of individuals who had a BMI within the normal range (BMI <25 kg/m²) and had feet that rolled inward (a navicular drop of more than 10 mm). The third group included individuals who had a BMI of 25 kg/m² or higher and normal feet (navicular drop: 4 to 10 mm). The fourth group included individuals with a BMI of 25 kg/m² or higher and flat feet (navicular drop: More than 10 mm). The running task was done at approximately 3.2 m/s over an 18-meter distance before and after the fatigue protocol. The walkway had a force plate embedded at its midpoint. Activity from the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius medialis, vastus lateralis (VL), vastus medialis (VM), rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris (BF) and semi tendinosus (ST) were collected using a surface bipolar EMG system.  Results: The results demonstrated significant main effects of “group” for general ankle co-contraction during the loading phase. Pairwise comparisons demonstrated significantly greater general ankle co-contraction ​​in the overweight/normal foot group compared to the other groups.  Conclusion: The general ankle co-contraction values were higher in the overweight groups than in the normal groups, which can be associated with overloads on the ankle joint. These findings can be useful for designing rehabilitation protocols for overweight people with and without pronated feet.http://ptj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-650-en.pdfoverweightco-contractiongaitflat feet
spellingShingle AmirAli Jafarnezhadgero
Nastaran Moradzadeh
Ehsan Fakhri Mirzang
Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
Physical Treatments
overweight
co-contraction
gait
flat feet
title Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
title_full Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
title_fullStr Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
title_short Effect of Overweight and Fatigue on Ankle Directed and General Co-contraction During Running
title_sort effect of overweight and fatigue on ankle directed and general co contraction during running
topic overweight
co-contraction
gait
flat feet
url http://ptj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-650-en.pdf
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