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Related Experiment Videos

Gait transition cost in humans.

James R Usherwood1, John E A Bertram

  • 1Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.

European Journal of Applied Physiology
|October 18, 2003
PubMed
Summary

Transitioning between walking and running significantly increases metabolic cost in humans. This higher cost for gait transitions, however, is unlikely to influence overall gait selection strategies.

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Area of Science:

  • Biomechanics
  • Human Locomotion
  • Metabolic Energetics

Background:

  • Locomotion efficiency is influenced by speed, gait, and body size.
  • Gait selection is partly linked to metabolic cost, but transition costs are often overlooked.
  • Understanding the metabolic cost of gait transitions is crucial for a complete picture of locomotion energetics.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To directly assess the metabolic cost associated with the walk-run/run-walk transition in humans.
  • To quantify the energy expenditure difference between transition steps and non-transition steps.

Main Methods:

  • Direct measurement of metabolic cost during human locomotion.
  • Analysis of metabolic power requirements at speeds where walking and running are energetically equivalent.
  • Comparison of metabolic cost for steps involving gait transitions versus standard steps.

Main Results:

  • A step involving a gait transition incurs an average increase in metabolic cost 1.75 times that of a non-transition step.
  • This elevated cost occurs at speeds where walking and running have identical metabolic power requirements.
  • The metabolic cost of the transition step is substantial.

Conclusions:

  • The metabolic cost of gait transitions is significant.
  • However, this transition cost is unlikely to be a primary factor in gait selection.
  • The energetic dominance of using a metabolically inappropriate gait, even briefly, outweighs the cost of transitions.

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