Spatial variability of muscle activity during human walking: The effects of different EMG normalization approaches

Human leg muscles are often activated inhomogeneously, e.g. in standing. This may also occur in complex tasks like walking. Thus, bipolar surface electromyography (sEMG) may not accurately represent whole muscle activity. This study used 64-electrode high-density sEMG (HD-sEMG) to examine spatial variability of lateral gastrocnemius (LG) muscle activity during the stance phase of walking, maximal voluntary contractions (MVCs) and maximal M-waves, and determined the effects of different normalization approaches on spatial and inter-participant variability. Plantar flexion MVC, maximal electrically elicited M-waves and walking at self-selected speed were recorded in eight healthy males aged 2…