A19 Load dynamics of Joints in Nordic walking

Abstract

Recent years have seen a worldwide increase in people participating in Nordic walking (NW). This trend has led to abundant research in NW. A high exercise effect for NW is recognized now. However, there are few studies focused on the various joint loads for NW. The purpose of this study is to compare the joint load for NW to ordinary walking (OW) on a level ground and for going up and down stairs. 3D inverse dynamics was used to calculate joint reaction force and joint moment. Then, the joint forces (compression and shear) at each of the lumbar spine, hip, knee and ankle joints were calculated using the Software for Interactive Musculoskeletal Modeling (SIMM). It was found that NW reduces the load of the lumbar spine and lower limb joints compared with OW on a level ground and going up stairs, but not going down stairs.