Decrease in strength and atrophy of skeletal muscles with age has been observed in elderly men and women. This may be due to the decreased walking ability of elderly people. It has not been clear, however, whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists between leg strength and walking ability. The present study is to examine changes in walking style through resistance training in elderly men and women. The nine subjects (4-male & 5-female, average 47 yr. old) who participat-ed in this study were asked to undergo resistance training for leg muscles for a period of 12 weeks. The measurements described below were obtained before and immediately after training, to evaluate the effects of the training. Isometric knee extension/flexion strength was measured by a Cybex machine. The style of normal walking was filmed in the sagittal plane using a video system (60f/s) . Hip, knee and ankle angles of the supporting leg were calculated in the following three phases in normal walking ; at the contact point of the heel (HC) , at the middle of the supporting phase (MID) , and at the take-off point of the toe (TTO). Although knee extension strength was increased significantly (17%) by training, walking speed, stride frequency and stride length did not change. However, there were significant correlations between increments in knee angles at the TTO/HC phases in walking and a increments in knee extension strength. Thus, it was suggested that a walking pattern involving an extended knee joint in the supporting leg could be obtained by leg resistance training even in elderly men and women.
