Abstract
The aim of this paper was to validate the optimal gait form for hip flexion and/or extension muscle group strengthening while walking in water. Five healthy young males participated in our experiments, and performed three gait forms; one is the normal form and the others were selected from the previous simulation study. These newly gait forms while walking in water were hip maximum voluntary flexion/extension with or without knee flexion for forward/backward direction, respectively. When subjects walked forward/backward direction with newly gait forms, the rectus/biceps femoris muscle electromyographic activities were enhanced compared with that of normal form. These results suggested that the optimal form based on the simulation study had high validity, and the hip flexion or extension muscle group could be strengthened selectively while forward or backward walking in water.
