The Effects of Uphill, Downhill, and Lateral Roll Treadmill Walking: An EMG, Kinematic, and Metabolic Analysis

open_access
Open Access
Author:
Abdou, Hossam
Area of Honors:
Kinesiology
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jinger S. Gottschall, Thesis Supervisor
Stephen Jacob Piazza, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
tilt walking
uphill walking
downhill walking
level walking
emg
metabolic activity
kinematics
Abstract:
Much research has been devoted to studying uphill and downhill walking and how they differ from level walking with regard to metabolic cost, muscle activity, and kinematics. However, research has not explored tilt walking (walking on a plane tilted to the left or right) and how it compares to level walking with regard to those same factors. This study focuses on tilt walking in addition to working toward confirming previous findings about uphill and downhill walking. Generally, the findings of this study on uphill and downhill walking agree with the findings presented in previous literature. Because of the lack of previous research on tilt walking, there is no literature to which I can compare the results obtained in this study. Overall, tilt walking was not shown to differ significantly from level walking with regard to metabolic activity, muscle activity, or kinematics. These results did not correspond with my hypotheses; I had initially expected to see significant differences in metabolic activity, the activity of specific muscles, and some gait components. This lack of concordance between my hypotheses and results leaves many questions yet to be answered and defines the necessity for further research regarding tilt walking.