Does the type of shoe affect the electromyography of the lower limb muscles while descending the stairs?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of shoe type on muscles electromyography while descending stairs. The population of this study was 15 students aged 20 to 30 years. Co-contraction and peak muscle activity were recorded. The repeated measure ANOVA test was used.  The results showed that in both pre-activity and eccentric phases, the peak activity of tibialis anterior, internal and external gastrocnemius and soleus muscles significantly increased in the barefoot position compared to normal shoes. The co-contraction of the peronaeus brevis and gastrocnemius medialis muscles in the pre-activity phase had a significant difference between normal and minimalist shoes. In the eccentric phase, there was a significant difference between the co-contraction of the tibialis anterior and peronaeus longus muscles in barefoot and normal shoe states. It seems that the increased co-contraction of agonists and antagonists in barefoot and minimalist shoes compared to normal shoes may be an effective factor in maintaining joint stability.