initial contact stance stage /inish″əl/ [L, initium, beginning, contigere, to touch] , one of the five stages in the stance phase of walking or gait, specifically associated with the moment when the foot touches the ground or floor and the leg prepares to accept the weight of the body. The initial contact stance stage figures in the diagnoses of many abnormal orthopedic conditions and is often correlated with electromyographic studies of the muscles used in walking, such as the pretibial muscle and the gluteus maximus. Compare loading response stance stage, midstance, preswing stance stage, terminal stance. See also swing phase of gait.
