Table 2.

Spatio-temporal parameters of young, middle-aged and old groups during walking, running and sprinting. Data shown as mean ± s.d.; BW, body weight; power generation 1, first half of the stance; power generation 2, second half of the stance during walking.

parameters	walking			running			sprinting
	young	middle-aged	old	young	middle-aged	old	young	middle-aged	old
spatio-temporal parameters
speed (m s−1)	1.6 ± 0.1	1.6 ± 0.2	1.6 ± 0.2	4.1 ± 0.2	4.0 ± 0.2	4.0 ± 0.2	9.3 ± 0.4***	7.9 ± 0.5###	6.6 ± 0.7+++
step length (m)	0.81 ± 0.04	0.85 ± 0.08	0.81 ± 0.07	1.49 ± 0.13***	1.45 ± 0.10	1.32 ± 0.10+	2.09 ± 0.10***	1.94 ± 0.13##	1.67 ± 0.12+++
contact time (ms)	633 ± 20	647 ± 50	624 ± 50	207 ± 17	212 ± 22	210 ± 16	118 ± 13***	140 ± 10###	156 ± 17+
swing/flight time (ms)	109 ± 11	110 ± 11	100 ± 10	162 ± 25***	145 ± 27	117 ± 19++	109 ± 11	113 ± 15	102 ± 7
step frequency (steps per min)	115 ± 4	111 ± 7	115 ± 7	163 ± 10***	168 ± 11	184 ± 7+++	265 ± 15***	237 ± 10###	234 ± 16

^#,+Statistical significance between young and old, young and middle-aged, and middle-aged and old, respectively.

^#,+p < 0.05; ^##,++p < 0.01; ***^,###,+++p < 0.001.