INTRODUCTION

Treadmills have been a popular form of exercise for many years. People have utilized treadmills for rehabilitative purposes, due to bad weather, and for testing both clinical and basic research. One option of particular interest to our group is the incline feature and its affect on the gait pattern. One option of particular interest to our group is the incline feature and its affect on the gait pattern. A change in the terrain is important to study because humans do not continuously walk on level ground; they are faced with multiple surfaces which can cause the gait system to adapt accordingly to environmental changes (Vogt & Banzer, 1999). This change in terrain can cause particular problems for individuals with joint injuries or joint replacements.

Our experiment hopes to identify the impact of an incline on the gait pattern. We will have a subject walk on a level surface on a motorized treadmill and the same subject will walk on an inclined surface on the same treadmill. Iverson and McMahon (1985) found no significant difference in the angle between the leg and the vertical with variations of the incline. This can be useful for patients who have been sedentary due to injury and this can help them to rehabilitate their injury as well as to build their cardiovascular fitness level.