Comparison of Muscle Activity and Timing between a Custom Shoe with Hydrodynamic Mechanism and Regular Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate Shoe

The importance of weight loss and fitness are considering as crucial issue during lifestyle. Therefore, wearing walking shoes can help to reduce plantar pressure in the high-risk areas of the foot. However, safety increasing of muscular activity and consequently energy consumption when using walking shoes are desirable. The aim of this study was to compare the muscle activity and timing between a custom shoe with hydrodynamic mechanism and regular Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate shoe. Twelve healthy men were selected for this quasi-experimental study. The custom hydrodynamic shoe was including outer sole with light Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate and also an inner silicon capsule was embedded in Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate sole. Moreover, there was some pathway with the special configuration on the silicon capsule to provide ways for flowing fluid. The shoemaker software version 2016 was used to make the final design of the shoe sole. Electrical muscle activity of the Gastrocnemius, Soleus, palmaris longus, and tibialis anterior activity at 1000Hz sampling rate were measured using the Myon electromyography system. Subjects randomly wore standard Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate sports shoes and hydrodynamic shoes and then go through the end of the pathway five times with self-selected speed. Onset and offset of muscle activation and an average of the smooth signal during the gait cycle were calculated and normalized based on maximum voluntary isometric contraction. The results indicated that gastrocnemius have significantly higher amplitude and the activation time when walking with the hydrodynamic shoe (P=0.02). Because of the important role of this muscle during walking, it seems that hydrodynamic shoe could an important effect for appropriately and safety increase walking economy.