Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 9, 2025

An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses
Published on: April 6, 2019
The energetic, kinematic and kinetic responses to load carried on the back, on the head and in a doublepack
Sean Hudson1, Benedicte Vanwanseele2, Martin Barwood3
1School of Human and Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, UK.
Abstract:
The determinants of energy saving phenomena reported for load carried on the head, back and in a doublepack remain unclear. This study compared the energetic, kinematic and kinetic responses to head (H), back (B) and doublepack (DP) loading. Fifteen volunteers walked on an instrumented treadmill at 3 km.h-1 with 0, 3, 12 and 20 kg in each loading method. Whole body motion, ground reaction forces (GRF) and metabolic cost were measured. H was less economical than B (p = 0.014) and DP (p = 0.010). H was also associated with increased step length (p = 0.045), decreased cadence (p = 0.001), greater trunk (p < 0.001) and hip (p < 0.001) extension and greater minimum vertical GRF (p = 0.001) than B and DP. In conclusion, no energy saving was found for head- or back-loading but economy may be improved with methods that cause smaller perturbations from unloaded walking. Practitioner summary: Energy saving phenomena have been reported for load carried on the head, back and in a doublepack, yet the determinants are unclear. This study shows that smaller perturbations from unloaded to loaded walking are associated with improved economy for certain load carriage conditions, such as the doublepack.
Related Concept Videos
Impact Loading
In cases of elastic deformation,...
Load along a Single Axis
Consider a beam of length L subjected to a varying load, which is a combination of parabolic and trapezoidal load distribution along the x-axis. In this case, it is essential to determine the resultant loads, their locations, and...
Eccentric Loading
Kinetic Energy for a Rigid Body
Beams with Unsymmetric Loadings
The first moment-area theorem determines the slope at any point on the beam. This theorem indicates that the change in slope between two points on a beam...
Applications of Stress
The...

