The Impact of Sports Participation on Gait in Young Adults: A Multifactorial Biomechanical Analysis of Athletes, Former Athletes and Sedentary Individuals

Although competitive sport induces neuromusculoskeletal adaptations, its relationship with habitual walking, including after sport cessation, remains unclear. Thirty young adults were divided equally into competitive athletes, former competitive athletes, and sedentary individuals. Walking at a self-selected speed was assessed using three-dimensional motion capture, force platforms, and surface electromyography. Spatiotemporal parameters and the Gait Deviation Index (GDI), Gait Profile Score (GPS), and Gait Variable Scores (GVSs) were calculated; kinematic, kinetic, and EMG waveforms were compared using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). No significant group differences were found in spatiotemporal parameters, individual GVSs, or SPM analyses. Conversely, GDI and GPS significantly differed among groups. Athletes showed the highest GDI (104.0 ± 6.2) and lowest GPS (5.16 ± 0.68°), whereas sedentary participants showed the opposite pattern, with the lowest GDI (89.3 ± 9.9) and highest GPS (7.51 ± 1.59°). Former athletes showed intermediate values (GDI = 99.2 ± 8.1; GPS = 5.85 ± 1.04°), differing significantly from sedentary participants but not from current athletes. Sedentary participants differed from both current and former athletes. Current and previous competitive sport participation may therefore be associated with subtle differences in global gait kinematics that are not evident from conventional gait variables or waveform analyses alone.