Effects of Calf Muscle Fatigue and Postural Control on Balance and Functional Test among Adults: A Quasi Experimental Study

Background: Calf muscles are essential for preserving functional mobility and balance. Preventing falls and improving adult rehabilitation techniques require an understanding of how calf muscle exhaustion affects balance and performance on functional assessments. Methodology: This experimental study employed pre–post repeated measures design to calf muscle fatigue was induced using a single-leg heel rise test at a metronome tempo of 46 beats/min until fatigue. The sample consisted of 200 adults (18–35 years) from a private university in Greater Noida, meeting specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria were subjects aged between 18 and 35 years, both male and females with body mass index (BMI) between 18.5 and 24.9 kg/m2, willing to participate. The exclusion criteria were subjects with a history of lower limb pain or back pain in the past 6 months, Results: The study included 65.5% males, 34.5% females. The mean age was 21 ± 2.2 years, and the effective size d = 0.5. The mean BMI was 21.9 ± 3.6. Significant differences were found between pre-test and post-test scores for static balance ( t = 15.5, P < 0.001), dynamic balance ( t = 41.1, P < 0.001), and functional mobility ( t = 30.3, P < 0.001), indicating that post-test scores were significantly lower than pre-test scores. Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of considering muscle fatigue in clinical assessments of postural stability and designing interventions to mitigate its effects.