# Establishing Reference Data for Electromyographic Activity in Gait: Age and Gender Variations
## 4 Discussion
Specifically, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [32] found when analyzing the EMG signals of the biceps femoris, rectus femoris, gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior that females exhibited significantly higher tibialis anterior activity during walking. This was also observed in our study for the tibialis anterior. In contrast, males exhibited an enhanced activation of the vastus lateralis and biceps femoris during terminal swing, along with a delayed foot-off. Given that males are typically taller and heavier, maintaining stability may require increased joint stiffness [33]. Consequently, the greater co-activation of agonist and antagonist muscles likely contributes to stabilizing the knee and hip, preparing them for initial contact. The delayed foot-off, indicative of a prolonged stance phase, may further reflect the need for enhanced stability during gait. The significant age-gender interaction effects observed in the biceps femoris and semimembranosus align with previous studies indicating that gender differences in muscle activation patterns become more pronounced with age [14; 16]. [PERSON] et al. [16] found that gender-related EMG differences in children appear predominantly during adolescence, with adult-like patterns emerging around the ages of 10-12 years. This aligns with our findings, where significant gender differences in the biceps femoris and semimembranosus were primarily observed in adults. In addition, while male children exhibited greater activity in both muscles during the stance phase, this pattern reversed in adulthood, with females showing increased activity. These changes in muscle activation suggest that gait patterns evolve with age, with sex differences becoming more prominent in adulthood, likely as a result of neuromuscular maturation. Our findings emphasize the necessity of considering both age and gender when establishing normative gait databases. While the impact of age on gait patterns in clinical settings is well-documented [34; 35], our results highlight the equally important role of gender-related differences. Given the influence of sex-related variations in musculoskeletal structure and neuromuscular control, including both male and female participants across different age groups is crucial. According to our findings, we strongly recommend including a minimum of 47 typically developed participants to account for age-gender effects on the norm band, with at least 12 individuals per subgroup (male children, female children, male adults, and female adults). If this is not feasible, providing age or gender separately and interpreting the gait data with greater caution should be considered. Our investigation into EMG reference data could enhance clinical decision making by providing a benchmark for identifying atypical muscle activation patterns. A better understanding of normative data in clinical settings may also support rehabilitation monitoring by tracking deviations from expected EMG profiles over time. For instance, comparing the gait patterns of patients with cerebral palsy (CP) to reference data from typically developing adults may result in misinterpretations, as some activation patterns in children may reflect developmental differences rather than disorders associated with CP.