Regulation of whole-body angular momentum during human walking

In human walking, whole-body angular momentum (WBAM) about the body centre-of-mass is reportedly maintained in a small range throughout a gait cycle by the intersegmental cancellation of angular momentum. However, the WBAM is certainly not zero, which indicates that external moments applied from the ground due to ground reaction forces (GRFs) and vertical free moments (VFMs) counteract the WBAM. This study provides a complete dataset of the WBAM, each segmental angular momentum, and the external moments due to GRFs and VFMs during human walking. This is done to test whether (1) the three components of the WBAM are cancelled by coordinated intersegmental movements, and whether (2) the external moments due to GRFs and VFMs contribute only minimally to WBAM regulation throughout a gait cycle. This study demonstrates that WBAM is regulated in a small range not only by the segment-to-segment cancellation, but also largely through contributions by the GRFs. The magnitude of VFM is significantly smaller than the peak vertical moment generated by the GRFs; however, in the single-support phase during walking, the VFM is possibly critical for coping with the change in the vertical WBAM due to force perturbations and arm or trunk movements.