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Related Experiment Videos

Simultaneous positive and negative external mechanical work in human walking.

J Maxwell Donelan1, Rodger Kram, Arthur D Kuo

  • 1Locomotion Laboratory, Department of Integrative Biology, 3060 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA. mdonelan@uclink4.berkeley.edu

Journal of Biomechanics
|December 19, 2001
PubMed
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Human walking involves legs doing simultaneous positive and negative work. A new individual limbs method reveals traditional measures underestimate external mechanical work by 33%.

Area of Science:

  • Biomechanics
  • Human locomotion
  • Kinetics

Background:

  • Human walking resembles an inverted pendulum.
  • Double support is a transition between single-limb inverted pendulums.
  • Legs may perform opposing mechanical work during double support.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the hypothesis that leading legs perform negative work and trailing legs perform positive work during double support.
  • To develop and validate a method for quantifying external mechanical work performed by individual limbs.
  • To compare work calculations from the individual limbs method versus the traditional combined limbs method.

Main Methods:

  • Developed the individual limbs method to quantify external mechanical work per limb.
  • Measured external mechanical work in humans walking at various speeds.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Compared results from the individual limbs method and the combined limbs method.

    • Main Results:

    • During double support, legs perform substantial simultaneous positive and negative external work.
    • The combined limbs method underestimated positive and negative external work by approximately 33% compared to the individual limbs method.
    • The trailing leg performed >97% of positive work, and the leading leg performed >94% of negative work during double support.

    Conclusions:

    • The individual limbs method provides a more accurate quantification of external mechanical work during human walking.
    • Traditional combined limbs methods significantly underestimate mechanical work due to cancellation effects during double support.
    • Distinct roles of leading (negative work) and trailing (positive work) legs are crucial for energy transfer and velocity control in human gait.