Fig. 1

Stairs and platform used in the study. Participants descended the stairs at a self-selected speed. Each participant completed a minimum five successful stair descents. The descent was deemed successful when the index limb was placed on step two in the absence of any stumbles or hesitation. The gait cycle of interest was similar to that used in previous studies [66] between step two and ground floor. The variables of interest were captured during stance phase; between toe on and toe off on step two