earticle

영어

The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effects of backward walking exercise with treadmill device on round shoulder posture for young adults. The subjects participated for this study were Baekseok university students, and then they were divided into two groups (n=15 per group): experimental group; backward walking exercise group, control group; forward walking exercise group. The walking exercise with treadmill device was implemented 1 day, 15 minutes. The subject was measured three rehabilitative outcomes including rounded shoulder posture (RSP), forward shoulder angle (FSA), and forward shoulder angle during gait (FSAG) before and after a 15-minutes treadmill walking session. For data analysis, the mean and standard deviation were estimated; t-test was carried out to test mean differences; and a comparative analysis was made for measures of the variables, thus obtaining the following results. 1. The backward walking group showed a significant reduction in RSP (1.05±0.85), while the forward walking group showed no significant change (0.12±0.62). 2. The FSAG also decreased significantly in the backward walking group (2.48±5.13), while it increased in the forward walking group(–1.09±3.59). The findings indicate that backward walking exercise is effective in improving shoulder alignment in individuals with rounded shoulder posture and may be considered as part of a shoulder alignment rehabilitation program.