Sex Differences in Incline-Walking among Humans

Previous research has shown that people tend to walk around the speed that minimizes energy consumption when traveling a given distance. It has further been shown that men and women have different speeds that minimize energy and that women will choose slower speeds when the activity itself is a high-rate activity (e.g. carrying a load). Here we investigate what men and women will do when given a high rate walking activity, namely walking on an inclined surface. Fourteen people (nine men and five women) walked at four speeds on a level treadmill and four speeds on an inclined treadmill while their metabolic rate, kinematics and core temperature were monitored. Following the data collection, participants were asked to identify their ‘preferred’ walking speed at each of the conditions. Cost of transport (CoT) curves were calculated for each individual, and the delta between the preferred and the ‘optimal’ speeds were calculated. People chose to walk at slightly slower speeds on the level; there was minimal change in the cost to walk at these slower speeds. Women walked at absolutely slower speeds on the incline than men (P=0.06) and had significantly larger speed deltas (P=0.02), thus choosing to walk at slower rate speeds. Women also showed a significant relationship between the rate of activity and core temperature, whereas men did not. This is consistent with other research showing that women choose behavioral strategies to minimize body temperature changes.