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Low back three-dimensional joint forces, kinematics, and kinetics during walking.
J P Callaghan1, A E Patla, S M McGill
1Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Clinical Biomechanics (Bristol, Avon)
|January 5, 2000
Summary
Walking is safe for low back rehabilitation, with faster paces creating more cyclic loading. Slow walking with restricted arm swing may increase detrimental static lumbar spine loading.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Musculoskeletal research
- Gait analysis
Background:
- Limited research exists on spinal loads, motion, and muscle activity during walking.
- Previous studies often used inverse dynamics models that excluded gait's impulsive phases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate three-dimensional low back loads, spinal motions, and trunk muscular activity during gait.
- To assess the impact of walking speed and arm swing on these parameters.
Main Methods:
- An in vivo experiment with five male participants performing 30 walking trials.
- Utilized a complex 3D anatomical model with bottom-up rigid link segment analysis.
- Measured low back joint forces, moments, lumbar spine motion, and trunk muscle activation.
Main Results:
- Increased walking cadence significantly affected net joint anterior-posterior shear loading.
- No significant effect of arm swing condition was observed.
- Trends indicated increased loading and motion with faster cadence and restricted arm swing.
Conclusions:
- Walking is generally safe for low back exercise and rehabilitation.
- Fast walking promotes a more cyclic loading pattern, potentially beneficial for the spine.
- Slow walking with restricted arm swing may lead to detrimental static loading and motion.