Abstract
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the activity of the crural muscle during the foot-gripping action, and examine the role of the crural muscle in foot-gripping strength. [Subjects] The subjects were 19 healthy adult females. [Method] We compared the normalized integrated electromyograms (%IEMG) of the tibial anterior, medial head of the gastrocnemius, and soleus muscles in ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion. [Result] The results for each muscle showed about 30 to 45% IEMG of maximum voluntary contraction. A significant positive correlation was found between foot-gripping strength and %IEMG of the tibial anterior muscle. [Conclusion] These results suggest that the crural muscle co-contracts during the foot-gripping action, and the activity of tibial anterior muscle plays a specifically important role.
