Objective
The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of oxygen consumption and heart rate at forward and backward treadmill walking in healthy male college students.

Method
Subjects were composed of twenty healthy male college students. The oxygen consumption, oxygen consumption ratio of maximal oxygen consumption (VO_2max%) and heart rate, heart rate ratio of maximal heart rate (HRmax%) were measured for each subjects by administering a treadmill exercise test at 5 km/hr speed of forward and backward walking. Paired t-test was used to evaluate the difference of the forward and backward walking.

Results
The study showed that heart rate and HRmax% were 120.9 beat/min, 61.6% in forward walking, and 166.1 beats/min, 84.3% in backward walking, respectively. The oxygen consumption and VO_2max% were 15.9 ml/kg/min, 37.3% in forward walking, and 23.6 ml/kg/min, 55.8% in backward walking, respectively.

Conclusion
We concluded that 5 km/hr backward walking was more effective exercise program than forward walking to promote health in the college students.