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The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of muscle fatigue in active and inactive young adults on the kinematic and kinetic parameters of normal gait and obstacle crossing. Twenty male subjects were divided into active (10) and inactive (10), based on self-reported physical activity. Participants performed three trials of two tasks (normal gait and obstacle crossing) before and after a fatigue protocol, consisting of repeated sit-to-stand transfers until the instructed pace could no longer be maintained. MANOVAs were used to compare dependent variables with the following factors: physical activity level, fatigue and task. The endurance time in the fatigue protocol was lower for the inactive group. Changes of gait parameters with fatigue, among which increased step width and increased stride speed were the most consistent, were independent of task and physical activity level. These findings indicate that the kinematic and kinetic parameters of gait are affected by muscle fatigue irrespective of the physical activity level of the subjects and type of gait. Inactive individuals used a slightly different strategy than active individuals when crossing an obstacle, independently of muscle fatigue.

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are more susceptible to muscle fatigue, which can damage their gait. Physical activity can improve muscle condition, which is an important aspect during walking. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of lower limb muscle fatigue on gait in patients with PD and healthy individuals, grouped according to physical activity level. Twenty Patients with PD (PD group) and 20 matched individuals (control group) were distributed according to physical activity level into four subgroups of ten individuals (active and inactive). Participants performed three walking trials before and after lower limb muscle fatigue, induced by a repeated sit-to-stand task on a chair. Kinematic (stride length, width, duration, velocity and percentage of time in double support) and kinetic (propulsive and breaking anterior-posterior and medio-lateral impulse) gait parameters were analyzed. In both groups, participants increased stride length and velocity and decreased stride duration and braking vertical impulse after lower limb muscle fatigue. The PD groups presented higher step width and percentage of double time support than the control groups before muscle fatigue. The control groups increased step width and decreased percentage of time in double support, while the PD groups did not change these parameters. For physical activity level, active individuals presented longer stride length, greater stride velocity, higher braking and propulsive anterior-posterior impulse and shorter step width than inactive individuals. Groups sought more balance and safety after lower limb muscle fatigue. Physical activity level does not appear to modify the effects of lower limb muscle fatigue during unobstructed walking in individuals with PD or controls.

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Gait variability may serve as a sensitive and clinically relevant parameter to quantify adjustments in walking and the changes with aging and neurological disease. Variability of steps preceding obstacle avoidance (approach phase) are important for efficiency in the task, especially in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, variability of gait during the approach phase to obstacle avoidance in people with PD has been rarely reported, particularly when ambulating obstacles of different heights. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of obstacle height on step-to-step variability (step-to-step variability provides information on the variation between the "equivalent steps" for all trials, and walking variability (indicates the within-step variability of each, providing information about the modulations between the steps performed. of spatial-temporal parameters during the approach phase to obstacle avoidance in people with PD and neurologically healthy older people. Twenty-eight older people; 15 with PD and 13 neurologically healthy individuals (control group), participated in the study. Participants were instructed to walk at their preferred speed until the end of the pathway and to avoid the obstacle when it was present. Each subject performed 10 trials of the following tasks: unobstructed walking, low obstacle avoidance (3cm length, height equal ankle’s height, 60 cm wide), intermediate obstacle (3cm length, low plus high obstacle height divided by 2, 60 cm wide) avoidance and high obstacle avoidance (3cm length, knee’s height, 60 cm wide). The obstacle was positioned 4m from to the start position. The step-to-step and walking variability of the spatial-temporal parameters (acquiring with GAITRite®) of the four steps before obstacle avoidance were analyzed. MANOVAs were used to compare the data. PD group showed the characteristic gait deficits associated with PD. The obstacle increased the spatial-temporal variability (step–to-step and walking variability) during the approach phase to the obstacle. Specifically, both groups increased i) the step-to- step variability of the step length during low obstacle avoidance when compared to the other conditions; ii) the variability during low obstacle avoidance in the last step before obstacle (n-1) compared to higher obstacle avoidance; iii) variability during higher obstacle avoidance in further steps (n-3 and n-4). In conclusion, the presence of the obstacle during walking increased the variability of spatial-temporal parameters in older people with PD and the control group during the steps preceding obstacle avoidance. In addition motor planning (and motor adaptations) was initiated much earlier in the approach phase for the higher obstacle conditions compared to the low obstacle condition.

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We examined the effects of age on intermuscular beta-band (15–35 Hz) coherence during treadmill walking before and after experimentally induced fatigue. Older (n = 12) and younger (n = 12) adults walked on a treadmill at 1.2 m/s for 3 min before and after repetitive sit-to-stand, rSTS, to induce muscle fatigability. We measured stride outcomes and coherence from 100 steps in the dominant leg for the synergistic (biceps femoris (BF)-semitendinosus, rectus femoris (RF)-vastus lateralis (VL), gastrocnemius lateralis (GL)-Soleus (SL), tibialis anterior (TA)-peroneus longus (PL)) and for the antagonistic (RF-BF and TA-GL) muscle pairs at late swing and early stance. Older vs. younger adults had 43–62% lower GL-SL, RF-VL coherence in swing and TA-PL and RF-VL coherence in stance. After rSTS, RF-BF coherence in late swing decreased by ~ 20% and TA-PL increased by 16% independent of age (p = 0.02). Also, GL-SL coherence decreased by ~ 23% and increased by ~ 23% in younger and older, respectively. Age affects the oscillatory coupling between synergistic muscle pairs, delivered presumably via corticospinal tracts, during treadmill walking. Muscle fatigability elicits age-specific changes in the common fluctuations in muscle activity, which could be interpreted as a compensation for muscle fatigability to maintain gait performance.