THE EFFECT OF STEP-HEIGHT ON THE KNEE ANGLES AND IN-SHOE PRESSURE DISTRIBUTIONS DURING STEP-AEROBICS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION A recent trend in indoor exercise is step-aerobics. This form of aerobic exercise involves the rhythmic stepping up to and down from a fixed platform to the beat of the accompanying "pop" music. In the past, substantial research has been done on the kinematics of the climbing of actual architectural stairs (Andriacchi et al., 1980; McFayden and Winter, 1988; Laubenthal et al., 1972) but no studies, to date, have been done to explore the kinematics of this new fitness phenomenon. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to study the biomechanics of step aerobics. Specifically, the effect of the step-height on the knee angles and in-shoe pressure distributions of subjects performing step aerobics was evaluated. It was hoped that the results of this study could be used to help determine any possible biomechanical health concerns of participation in step aerobics.