A Study to Compare Physiological Cost Index (PCI) of Walking on Treadmill with and without Holding the Hand Rails

Treadmill walking is commonly used for fitness testing and training. Purpose of present study was to determine whether holding the front hand rails makes any significant change in energy expenditure during treadmill walking or not. Thirty volunteers (17 male and 13 female) participated in the study. Subjects were asked to walk on treadmill at speed of 1.0 to 6.0 mph with and without holding the front hand rails for 6 minutes. Physiological cost index was measured for two different positions and compared for statistically significant difference. Results showed that there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in Physiological cost index measured for two different positions. Hence, present study concludes that, holding the front hand rails does not make any significant difference in energy expenditure while walking on treadmill. Keywords: Treadmill walking, Physiological cost index, Hand rail.