Variability in kinematic parameters is not always considered beneficial, but equally some degree of variability is not always considered detrimental . High variability in kinetic and kinematic variables can increase energetic costs , and increase the risk of falls , but equally it can facilitate an increase in motor performance . Both younger (less than 65 years) and older (more than 65 years) adults show increases in the variability in step parameters when walking at speeds faster, or slower than their comfortable walking speed ; only there is a slightly wider distribution in the magnitude of variability in older adults . Thus, the nature of the relationship between motor control and biomechanical variability is not simple, and is not yet completely understood; for example, we do not understand how variability functions at the body–ground interface. Fortunately, plantar pressure records capture the summation of kinetic and kinematic forces produced by the moving body against the ground. Fluctuations in the centre of mass over the base of support, and perturbations that challenge stability and balance during adaptive coordination, occur here at the foot–ground interface. It is therefore timely for a systematic study characterizing variability in plantar pressure, and this is the goal of this contribution.