Effect of motor-assisted elliptical training speed and body weight support on center of pressure movement variability

• Published in: Gait & posture 2020-09, Vol.81, p.138-143
• Main Authors: Fallahtafti, Farahnaz, Pfeifer, Chase M., Buster, Thad W., Burnfield, Judith M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Body Weight - physiology; Center of pressure; Female; Gait; Gait - physiology; Humans; Male; Orthotic Devices - standards; Physical rehabilitation; Pilot Projects; Pressure; Regularity; Variability
• ISSN: 0966-6362; 1879-2219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2020.07.018

•Motor-assisted elliptical training parameters can alter movement variability.•Faster motor-assisted elliptical training speed increases CoP sample entropy.•Higher motor-assisted elliptical training body support increases CoP sample entropy. A motor-assisted elliptical trainer is being used clinically to help individuals with physical disabilities regain and/or retain walking ability and cardiorespiratory fitness. Unknown is how the device’s training parameters can be used to optimize movement variability and regularity. This study examined the effect of motor-assisted elliptical training speed as well as body weight support (BWS) on center of pressure (CoP) movement variability and regularity during training. CoP was recorded using in-shoe pressure insoles as participants motor-assisted elliptical trained at three speeds (20, 40 and 60 cycles per minute) each performed at four BWS levels (0 %, 20 %, 40 %, and 60 %). Separate two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (3 × 4) evaluated impact of training speed and BWS on linear variability (standard deviation) and non-linear regularity (sample entropy) of CoP excursion (anterior-posterior, medial-lateral) for 10 dominant limb strides. Training speed and BWS did not significantly affect the linear variability of CoP in the anterior-posterior or medial-lateral directions. However, sample entropy in both directions revealed the main effect of training speed (p