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.