Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 25, 2025
08:40
Quantifying Arms and Legs Contributions during Repetitive Electrically-Assisted Sit-To-Stand Exercise in Paraplegics: A Pilot Study
Published on: November 11, 2022
1.2K
Altered Muscle Contributions are Required to Support the Stance Limb During Voluntary Toe-Walking
Enrico De Pieri1,2, Jacqueline Romkes1,2, Christian Wyss1,2
1Laboratory for Movement Analysis, University of Basel Children's Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
|April 28, 2022
Summary
Mimicking toe-walking in healthy adults revealed significant lower-limb adaptations and increased muscular effort. These findings highlight the compensatory strategies and higher muscle demands involved in toe-walking gait.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Human Movement Science
- Neuromuscular Physiology
Background:
- Toe-walking is a gait pattern associated with neuromuscular conditions, impacting stability, efficiency, and quality of life.
- Understanding the biomechanics of toe-walking is crucial for effective treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe gait deviations in healthy adults mimicking unilateral toe-walking.
- To characterize functional adaptations of lower-limb muscles during toe-walking.
Main Methods:
- Utilized musculoskeletal modeling to estimate muscle contributions to joint sagittal moments.
- Analyzed lower-limb kinematics and kinetics during normal and toe-walking gait patterns.
- Calculated the support moment to assess muscular effort for stability.
Main Results:
- Toe-walking exhibited significantly different lower-limb kinematics and kinetics compared to normal gait.
- Required earlier and prolonged ankle plantarflexion from soleus and gastrocnemius muscles.
- Increased hip extensor and vasti contributions were observed during specific stance phases.
- Demonstrated higher support moments, indicating increased muscular effort for stability.
Conclusions:
- Compensatory muscular activations are essential at all joint levels for toe-walking.
- Elevated muscular demands in toe-walking can lead to fatigue, pain, and reduced quality of life.
- Treatment strategies should consider the muscular demands and potential overloads associated with toe-walking adaptations.
