Physiological and perceptual responses to backward and forward treadmill walking in water

Vertical reaction forces and kinematics of backward walking underwater

“…Despite the growing use of aquatic BW as a training resource [1][2][3][4][5]26], apart from velocity [25], neuromuscular parameters (EMG) [6,7], and spatiotemporal parameters [8], no previous studies have analyzed the ground reaction forces or angular kinematics of this activity.…”

“…Walking backward on an underwater treadmill has been shown to elicit more electromyogram (EMG) activity in the paraspinal muscles compared to BW on land. When compared to forward walking (FW) on an underwater treadmill, BW elicits more paraspinal, vastus medialis and tibialis anterior activity as well as higher physiological and perceived exertion responses [6][7][8].…”

The Effect of Water Depth on Energy Expenditure and Perception of Effort in Female Subjects While Walking

“…The majority of studies, utilizing the ATM or Flowmill devices investigating the cardiorespiratory effects of water walking, have selected the xiphoid level (Fujishima & Shimizu, 2003;Hall et al, 1998;Hall, Grant, Blake, Taylor, & Garbutt, 2004;Masumoto, Shono, Hotta, & Fujishima, 2008;Masumoto et al, 2009;Shono et al, 2000;Shono, Fujishima, Hotta, Ogaki, & Masumoto, 2001;Shono, Fujishima, Hotta, Ogaki, & Ueda, 2001;Shono et al, 2007). Perhaps this depth is considered by investigators and rehabilitation specialists to be a water depth that "balances" the buoyancy effect of water, reducing the stress on lower extremity joints with the added EE required due to drag forces associated with moving in water.…”

Biomechanical characteristics of adults walking forward and backward in water at different stride frequencies

“…Backward walking in a water environment has been shown to reduce nearly a 20% the speed (Chevutschi, Alberty, Lensel, Pardessus, & Thevenon, 2009;Carneiro et al, 2012) and a 6% the step length and to increase a 11% the frequency (Masumoto et al, 2009) and 61% the knee, ankle and hip joint angles (Carneiro et al, 2012) compared to forward walking. In the analysis of a gait cycle, stride duration, support phase (Barela & Duarte, 2008;Orselli & Duarte, 2011), stride length (Barela & Duarte, 2008;Masumoto, Hamada, Tomonaga, Kodama, & Hotta, 2012;Masumoto, Shono, Hotta, & Fujishima, 2008;Orselli & Duarte, 2011) and the knee, ankle and hip angles (Carneiro et al, 2012) were lower on land than in water (mean decreased of 11% for stride length, of 60.7% for stride duration, of 4% for support phase duration and of 57.3% for joint angles) whilst the speed was a 34% greater (Chevutschi et al, 2009;Barela & Duarte, 2008;Barela et al, 2006;Carneiro et al, 2012).…”

“…To our knowledge, few studies analysed the spatiotemporal and angular parameters of forward and backward walking in water (Chevutschi et al, 2009;Masumoto et al, 2009) and none of these studies provided a full description of the stride characteristics of a gait cycle combining two directions and two frequencies.…”