Knee injuries, hip injuries & downhill walking

[mtex]

Hiking is an admirable activity because it helps improve cardiovascular fitness, but what if all that fresh air and walking actually causes more problems than it solves? A research group based - where else? - in Austria, set out to discover if downhill walking has a detrimental effect on the knee and hip joints (Schwameder, H, Roithner, R, Muller, E, Neissen, W & Raschner, C (1999), 'Knee joint forces during downhill walking with hiking poles.' Journal of Sports Sciences, vol 17, no 12, pp 969-978).

Eight experienced male hikers volunteered for the study. Each subject completed the trials wearing a 7.6 kg backpack and walked on a ramp 7m long, 1.2m wide, declined 25 deg, before stepping on to a force platform integrated into the ramp. The subjects wore hiking boots and used an average pole length of 67 +/- body height. The subjects walked down the ramp both with and without hiking poles. Before reaching the force platform, at least six steps on the ramp could be completed. The subjects controlled their walking speed by synchronising their stride frequency with a metronome while placing their feet on landmarks marked on the ramp.

The study found that when walking downhill without hiking poles peak ground reaction forces of 17.0 N.kg-1 were typically experienced, compared to values of 11.7 N.kg-1 during level walking. However, when the subjects completed the test using hiking poles, the peak ground reaction forces experienced were reduced by as much as 15%. This reduction in compression forces within the knee joint has important preventative implications for all hikers, especially those with knee problems. The moral is: buy a set of hiking poles, they're cheaper than a new set of knees!