Arms are different from legs: mechanics and energetics of human hand-running

To determine whether nonlocomotor limbs (arms) differ from locomotor limbs (legs), we trained human subjects to run on their hands while supporting a fraction of their body weight. We wanted to know whether the low cost of force production and the speed-independent limb stiffness of locomotor limbs were characteristics associated with locomotion or were inherent properties of all limbs. We found that the limb stiffness of the human arm increases by 135% over less than a fourfold range in peak vertical force. In contrast, human legs and a variety of other mammalian locomotor limbs maintain a constant stiffness, regardless of speed and loading, for normal running. In addition, we explored the energetics of locomotion in hand-running. The economy of force generation (in J/N) is invariant with speed, as is found in legged locomotion. However, our results show that the metabolic cost of force generation while running on human arms is four to five times greater than the cost of force generation for the locomotor limbs of running quadrupeds.