Kinematic Adaptations of Forward and Backward Walking on Land and in Water

• Authors: Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez , Raúl Arellano , Jos Vanrenterghem , Gracia López-Contreras
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The aim of this study was to compare sagittal plane lower limb kinematics during walking on land and submerged to the hip in water. Eight healthy adults (age 22.1 ± 1.1 years, body height 174.8 ± 7.1 cm, body mass 63.4 ± 6.2 kg) were asked to cover a distance of 10 m at comfortable speed with controlled step frequency, walking forward or backward. Sagittal plane lower limb kinematics were obtained from three dimensional video analysis to compare spatiotemporal gait parameters and joint angles at selected events using two-way repeated measures ANOVA. Key findings were a reduced walking speed, stride length, step length and a support phase in water, and step length asymmetry was higher compared to the land condition (p<0.05). At initial contact, knees and hips were more flexed during walking forward in water, whilst, ankles were more dorsiflexed during walking backward in water. At final stance, knees and ankles were more flexed during forward walking, whilst the hip was more flexed during backward walking. These results show how walking in water differs from walking on land, and provide valuable insights into the development and prescription of rehabilitation and training programs.

Keywords

EN

gait; kinematics; aquatic environment; land environment

• Publisher: De Gruyter Open
• Journal: Journal of Human Kinetics
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 49
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 15-24

Dates

published

1 - 12 - 2015

accepted

1 - 12 - 2015

online

30 - 12 - 2015

Contributors

author

Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez

• Department of Physical Education and Sport. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

author

Raúl Arellano

• Department of Physical Education and Sport. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

author

Jos Vanrenterghem

• School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

author

Gracia López-Contreras

• Department of Physical Education and Sport. Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/hukin-2015-0104