Differences in activities of the lower extremity muscles with and without heel contact during stair ascent by young women wearing high-heeled shoes.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify any differences in the activity patterns of lower extremity muscles with and without heel contact during stair ascent by women in their twenties wearing high-heeled shoes. Twenty healthy female subjects wearing high-heeled shoes walked up a step with a height of 20 cm with and without heel contact, during which the activities of the vastus medialis oblique, vastus lateralis, and gastrocnemius were recorded using surface electromyography. During stair ascent the activities of the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis oblique were significantly higher and that of the gastrocnemius significantly lower with high-heel contact than without high-heel contact. We suggest that young women wearing high-heeled shoes should step up with heel contact on the stair surface during stair ascent to activate the quadriceps muscle.