The relationships between physical capacity and biomechanical plasticity with age during level and incline walking

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between physical capacity and age-associated biomechanical plasticity during level and incline walking. It is likely that as physical capacity declines, the magnitude of biomechanical plasticity increases. More specifically, as physical capacity declines, elderly adults will rely more on hip and less on ankle joint contributions to the support phase of level walking. To test this, we will measure physical capacity and perform gait analysis on 25-30 elderly adults (aged 70-85 years old). We will run correlation and regression analysis to precisely measure the mathematical relationship between physical capacity and biomechanical plasticity. Biomechanical variables of interest are hip, knee, and ankle joint torques, powers, and work.

Scholars @ ECU