COMPARING EFFICIENCY OF EXERCISE ON THE TREADMILL AND GROUND ON THE GROUND REACTION FORCES DURING WALKING IN PEOPLE WITH GENU VARUM

Genu varum is one of the most common abnormalities of the knee joint in which the inner condyles of the femur move away from each other. The aim of the present study was to compare efficiency of exercise on the treadmill and ground on the ground reaction forces during walking in people with genu varum.

The present study was a quasi-experimental and laboratory study. Forty-five boys with genu varum were selected randomly and divided into three groups of 15 in each including: exercise on the treadmill (age: 21.78±2.28 years, weight: 83.35±1.10 kg), exercise on the ground (age: 21.14±2.33 years, weight: 82.25±1.84 kg), and control group (age: 23.14±2.60 years, weight: 80.15±1.50 kg). Running exercises were performed for eight weeks in training groups with running speed of 3.2 m/s. Ground reaction forces were recorded by Bertec Corporation (Columbus, OH) with sampling frequency of 1000 Hz. Ground reaction force amplitudes and their time to peak were used for statistical analysis. For statistical analysis, SPSS V21 software and analysis of variance with repeated measures (repeated measure ANOVA) were used at a significant level of 0.05.

The results of the present study demonstrated that time to peak of the medio-lateral force at heel contact phase at exercise on the ground group was statistically different from other groups (P=0.000). Also, time to peak of the medio-latral force at heel contact phase at exercise on the treadmill group was statistically different from other groups (P =0.000). Moreover, time to peak of the vertical force at push-off phase at exercise on the treadmill group was statistically different from other groups (P =0.000).

According to the results, training on the treadmill is most effective than training on the ground on time to reach peak forces than force amplitudes. Overall, training on the treadmill have greater positive aspects than training on the ground. However, future studies are needed to establish this issue.