INTRODUCTION: The abnormal vertical ground reaction force (GRF) pattern presents the asymmetry or the presence of more than two peaks as typical pathological gait. The typical asymmetric force is the transient force. Is the military marching a kind of pathological gait? OBJECTIVE: To describe and analyze the vertical ground reaction forces during the stance phase of the military marching. METHOD: Participants were 20 Brazilian Army soldiers who previously had an injury in the lower limbs related to the military marching. Two strain-gauge force platforms measured the GRF components (mediolateral, anterior posterior; and vertical components) during gait. To each side and condition (gait and marching) five samples for each foot were recorded. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the GRF parameters during gait and marching. RESULTS: The first force peak was the highest during the marching condition. The first force peak was the highest during marching condition. The peak transient force during marching was higher than the first peak during gait. The minimum force was higher during marching. CONCLUSION: The analysis of ground reaction forces in military marching shows a transient vertical force that is not usually present in normal gait pattern.
gait; biomechanics; analysis of variance
