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Kuruma H1, Yamauchi M1, Natsuyama Y1, Shida N1, Furukawa Y1, Kamio H1, Shiratani T2
1Tokyo Metropolitan University, Physical Therapy, Tokyo, Japan, 2Sonoda Second Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
Background: Walking is one of the important activities of daily living. Walking with a bad posture leads to the worsening of the body's condition. Therefore, it is important to walk with a good alignment.
Purpose: We developed a harness for better posture while walking. The harness is attached to a rubber belt, which crosses over to and winds around the femoral region.This arrangement causes the movement of the hip joint and pelvis with an anterior tilt. We aimed to examine the change in the activities of the major muscles of the leg while walking with this harness using an electromyogram.
Methods: Four healthy male (mean age 20.8 years) were enrolled in this study. We used an wireless electromyogram to measure the activities of the erector muscle (ER), gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed), tensor fasciae latae (TFL) and the semimembranosus (SM) of each participant' right side and let them walk. Thereafter, the subjects put on the harness and walked for ten minutes. This walk was similar to the earlier walk and was measured using electromyography.
The stance phase was defined as 60% of the duration from heel contact to heel contact, which was then divided into half for the early stance phase and later stance phase. The experiment was repeated, and the measurements were noted, thrice for each subject. We divided the muscle integral calculus level by that of the maximum muscular strength for each muscle. The data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon's matched pair test, and the pvalues 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: The muscle activity ratio for the early stance phase during normal walk/walking with harness for each muscle were: ER, 11.2/7.6(%); GMax, 14.9/17.57; GMed, 36.4/39.1; TFL, 11.6/15.5; and SM, 12.1/17.4. We noted a significant difference in the activities of the GMax (p=0.008), TFL (p=0.034) and SM (p=0.038). Conversely, the muscle activity ratio for the later stance phase during normal walk/walking with harness for each muscle were: ER, 9.2/9.6(%); GMax, 8.1/7.8; GMed, 27.9/27.2; TFL, 12.9/15.1; and SM, 7.5/7.1. The differences between the muscle activities during the later stance phase were not significant.
Conclusion(s): The muscle activities of the GMax, TFL and SM increased while walking with the harness during the early stance phase. We speculate that the harness enhanced the anterior tilt of the pelvis, which, in turn, increased the hip joint movement and the activity of the hip muscles. Interestingly, the muscle activity of the ER was not increased while walking with the harness.
Implications: We show that our novel harness was effective in increasing the muscle activity of the gluteus maximus without increasing that of the erector muscle of the spine, indicating a protective effect of the harness towards the lower back, which could eventually help ameliorate low back pain.
Keywords: Harness, pelvis, Gluteus maximum
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by the research funding of Tokyo Metropolitan University.
Purpose: We developed a harness for better posture while walking. The harness is attached to a rubber belt, which crosses over to and winds around the femoral region.This arrangement causes the movement of the hip joint and pelvis with an anterior tilt. We aimed to examine the change in the activities of the major muscles of the leg while walking with this harness using an electromyogram.
Methods: Four healthy male (mean age 20.8 years) were enrolled in this study. We used an wireless electromyogram to measure the activities of the erector muscle (ER), gluteus maximus (GMax), gluteus medius (GMed), tensor fasciae latae (TFL) and the semimembranosus (SM) of each participant' right side and let them walk. Thereafter, the subjects put on the harness and walked for ten minutes. This walk was similar to the earlier walk and was measured using electromyography.
The stance phase was defined as 60% of the duration from heel contact to heel contact, which was then divided into half for the early stance phase and later stance phase. The experiment was repeated, and the measurements were noted, thrice for each subject. We divided the muscle integral calculus level by that of the maximum muscular strength for each muscle. The data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon's matched pair test, and the pvalues 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results: The muscle activity ratio for the early stance phase during normal walk/walking with harness for each muscle were: ER, 11.2/7.6(%); GMax, 14.9/17.57; GMed, 36.4/39.1; TFL, 11.6/15.5; and SM, 12.1/17.4. We noted a significant difference in the activities of the GMax (p=0.008), TFL (p=0.034) and SM (p=0.038). Conversely, the muscle activity ratio for the later stance phase during normal walk/walking with harness for each muscle were: ER, 9.2/9.6(%); GMax, 8.1/7.8; GMed, 27.9/27.2; TFL, 12.9/15.1; and SM, 7.5/7.1. The differences between the muscle activities during the later stance phase were not significant.
Conclusion(s): The muscle activities of the GMax, TFL and SM increased while walking with the harness during the early stance phase. We speculate that the harness enhanced the anterior tilt of the pelvis, which, in turn, increased the hip joint movement and the activity of the hip muscles. Interestingly, the muscle activity of the ER was not increased while walking with the harness.
Implications: We show that our novel harness was effective in increasing the muscle activity of the gluteus maximus without increasing that of the erector muscle of the spine, indicating a protective effect of the harness towards the lower back, which could eventually help ameliorate low back pain.
Keywords: Harness, pelvis, Gluteus maximum
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by the research funding of Tokyo Metropolitan University.
Topic: Musculoskeletal: lower limb; Musculoskeletal: lower limb; Robotics & technology
Ethics approval required: Yes
Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
Ethics committee: Tokyo Metropolitan University Ethical Review Board
Ethics number: 17093
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
