Abstract
[Purpose] Focusing on hip flexion muscles, knee joint extension muscles and ankle plantar flexion muscles, we investigated their age-related changes in their roles in walking and maximum step length. [Subjects and Methods] Seventy-seven women were divided into four groups, a young group, a young-old group, an old-old group, and a very old group, and their physical functions and ability to do activities were investigated and compared. [Results] At maximum step length and maximum gait, significant correlations were found between the young group and the hip flexion muscle use, the young-old group and knee extension muscle use, and the old-old group with knee extension and ankle plantar flexion use, but no significant correlations were found for the very old group. [Conclusion] The results suggest that the relative contributions of muscle groups to walking and maximum step length change with age.
