Plantar flexor muscle strength is assessed in the supine position. For the measurement of isometric muscle strength, participants lay prone on an examination table and were instructed to perform maximal plantar flexion for 10 seconds. To achieve a submaximal contraction corresponding to 15% of their maximal voluntary contraction, participants were asked to follow a 15% threshold reference line displayed on the force channel monitor.

For the measurement of isometric muscle strength, participants lying prone on an examination table were instructed to perform maximal plantar flexion for 10 seconds. To achieve a submaximal contraction corresponding to 15% of their maximal contraction force, they were asked to follow the 15% threshold reference line displayed on the force channel on the screen.

During the measurement of plantar flexion muscle strength, the cutaneous mechanoreceptors of the heel were stimulated with a square-wave electrical current with a pulse duration of 1 microsecond, at an intensity three times the sensory threshold. Electrical stimulation was delivered via a constant-current stimulator (Digitimer DS7A, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom). At the 15% contraction level, a train of five stimuli was delivered 10 times at intervals of 4-6 seconds. Measurements were repeated 10 times with 30-second intervals between each set.

While the participants were lying prone on the examination table, plantar flexion muscle strength was assessed using a computer-connected force sensor (SPIKE 2.7). For detailed analysis of the participant data using the SPIKE 2.7 force sensor software, an IIR digital filtering process was first applied to the force channel. During this procedure, a low-pass filter was selected. The filter settings were configured with a cutoff value of 100 and an order of 2. As a result of this filtering process, the newly generated filtered memory channel was labeled "ForceLP." Subsequently, the waveform average of the ForceLP channel was calculated with the following settings: width 4 s, offset 2 s, and trigger set to 6 stimuli (event+). From these averaged traces peak contraction force was determined.

While the participants were lying prone on the examination table, plantar flexion muscle strength was assessed using a computer-connected force sensor (SPIKE 2.7). For detailed analysis of the participant data using the SPIKE 2.7 force sensor software, an IIR digital filtering process was first applied to the force channel. During this procedure, a low-pass filter was selected. The filter settings were configured with a cutoff value of 100 and an order of 2. As a result of this filtering process, the newly generated filtered memory channel was labeled "ForceLP." Subsequently, the waveform average of the ForceLP channel was calculated with the following settings: width 4 s, offset 2 s, and trigger set to 6 stimuli (event+). From these averaged traces reflex contraction force was determined.

While the participants were lying prone on the examination table, plantar flexion muscle strength was assessed using a computer-connected force sensor (SPIKE 2.7). For detailed analysis of the participant data using the SPIKE 2.7 force sensor software, an IIR digital filtering process was first applied to the force channel. During this procedure, a low-pass filter was selected. The filter settings were configured with a cutoff value of 100 and an order of 2. As a result of this filtering process, the newly generated filtered memory channel was labeled "ForceLP." Subsequently, the waveform average of the ForceLP channel was calculated with the following settings: width 4 s, offset 2 s, and trigger set to 6 stimuli (event+). From these averaged traces reflex contraction latency was determined.