Neglected losses and key costs: tracking the energetics of walking and running (original) (raw)
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Terrestrial legged locomotion requires repeated support forces to redirect the body's vertical velocity component from down to up. We assume that the redirection is accomplished by impulsive leg forces that cause small-angle glancing collisions of a point-mass model of the animal. We estimate the energetic costs of these collisions by assuming a metabolic cost proportional to positive muscle work involved in generating the impulses. The cost of bipedal running estimated from this collisional model becomes less than that of walking at a Froude number ðv 2 =g'Þ of about 0.7. Two strategies to reduce locomotion costs associated with the motion redirection are: (1) having legs simulate purely elastic springs, as is observed in human running; and (2) sequencing the leg forces during the redirection phase; examples of this sequencing are the ba-da-dump pattern of a horse gallop and having push-off followed by heel-strike in human walking. r
Mechanical work in terrestrial locomotion: two basic mechanisms for minimizing energy expenditure
American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 1977
The work done during each step to lift and to reaccelerate (in the forward direction) and center of mass has been measured during locomotion in bipeds (rhea and turkey), quadrupeds (dogs, stump-tailed macaques, and ram), and hoppers (kangaroo and springhare). Walking, in all animals (as in man), involves an alternate transfer between gravitational-potential energy and kinetic energy within each stride (as takes place in a pendulum). This transfer is greatest at intermediate walking speeds and can account for up to 70% of the total energy changes taking place within a stride, leaving only 30% to be supplied by muscles. No kinetic-gravitational energy transfer takes place during running, hopping, and trotting, but energy is conserved by another mechanism: an elastic “bounce” of the body. Galloping animals utilize a combination of these two energy-conserving mechanisms. During running, trotting, hopping, and galloping, 1) the power per unit weight required to maintain the forward speed...
Biomechanical and physiological aspects of legged locomotion in humans
European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2003
Walking and running, the two basic gaits used by man, are very complex movements. They can, however, be described using two simple models: an inverted pendulum and a spring. Muscles must contract at each step to move the body segments in the proper sequence but the work done is, in part, relieved by the interplay of mechanical energies, potential and kinetic in walking, and elastic in running. This explains why there is an optimal speed of walking (minimal metabolic cost of about 2 J.kg–1·m–1 at about 1.11 m.s–1) and why the cost of running is constant and independent of speed (about 4 J.kg–1.m–1). Historically, the mechanical work of locomotion has been divided into external and internal work. The former is the work done to raise and accelerate the body centre of mass (m) within the environment, the latter is the work done to accelerate the body segments with respect to the centre of m. The total work has been calculated, somewhat arbitrarily, as the sum of the two. While the changes of potential and kinetic energies can be accurately measured, the contribution of the elastic energy cannot easily be assessed, nor can the true work performed by the muscles. Many factors can affect the work of locomotion - the gradient of the terrain, body size (height and body m), and gravity. The partitioning of positive and negative work and their different efficiencies explain why the most economical gradient is about –10% (1.1 J.kg–1.m–1 at 1.3 m.s–1 for walking, and 3.1 J.kg–1.m–1 at between 3 and 4 m·s–1 for running). The mechanics of walking of children, pigmies and dwarfs, in particular the recovery of energy at each step, is not different from that of taller (normal sized) individuals when the speed is expressed in dynamically equivalent terms (Froude number). An extra load, external or internal (obesity) affects internal and external work according to the distribution of the added m. Different gravitational environments determine the optimal speed of walking and the speed of transition from walking to running: at more than 1 g it is easier to walk than to run, and it is the opposite at less than 1 g. Passive aids, such as skis or skates, allow an increase in the speed of progression, but the mechanics of the locomotion cannot be simply described using the models for walking and running because step frequency, the proportion of step duration during which the foot is in contact with the ground, the position of the limbs, the force exerted on the ground and the time of its application are all different.
Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 1994
Five subjects walked and ran at overlapping speeds and different gradients on a motorized treadmill. At each gradient the speed was obtained at which walking and running have the same metabolic cost (Sm) and the speed of spontaneous (Ss) transition between the two gaits was measured. Ss was found to be statistically lower than Sm at all gradients, the difference being in the range of 0.5–0.9 km h‐1. The motion analysis of walking reveals that at all gradients and at increasing speed: (1) the percentage of recovery, an index of mechanical energy saving related to the pendulum–like characteristic of walking, decreases; (2) the lower limb spread reaches a limit in walking; and consequently (3) both the stride frequency and the internal mechanical work, due to limb acceleration in relation to the body centre of mass, increase much more in walking than in running. Switching to a run, although implying a higher frequency, makes the internal work decrease as a result of the lower limb spre...
Humans Can Continuously Optimize Energetic Cost during Walking
Current Biology, 2015
Highlights d People readily adapt established gait patterns to minimize energy use d People converge on new energetic optima within minutes, even for small cost savings d Updated predictions about energetically optimal gaits allow re-convergence within seconds d Energetic cost is not just an outcome of movement, but also continuously shapes it
Energy expenditure during human gait. I — An optimized model
2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology, 2010
Within the framework of multibody dynamics, a 3D large scale neuromusculoskeletal model of the human body is presented. To characterize the dynamics of skeletal muscle, a phenomenological model of energy expenditure was developed for estimating energy consumption during normal locomotion. Such model is able for predicting thermal and mechanical energy liberation under submaximal activation, muscle fiber type, and varying contractile conditions, typically observed in human motion. Future formulations of the indeterminate biomechanical problem, solved through the physiological criteria of minimization of metabolical cost of transport during human gait, should consider the role of muscle groups in coordinating multijoint motion. Such an approach is presented in part II of the paper.
Frontiers in Physiology
Locomotion is the most common form of movement in nature. Its study allows analysis of interactions between muscle functions (motor) and lever system arrangements (transmission), thereby facilitating performance analysis of various body organs and systems. Thus, it is a powerful model to study various aspects of integrative physiology. The results of this model can be applied in understanding body functions and design principles as performance outputs of interest for medical and biological sciences. The overall efficiency (eff overall) during locomotion is an example of an integrative parameter, which results from the ratio between mechanical output and metabolic input. Although the concepts of cost (i.e., metabolic expenditure relative to distance) and power (i.e., metabolic expenditure relative to time) are included in its calculation, the eff overall establishes peculiar relations with these variables. For a better approach to these aspects, in this study, we presented the physical-mathematical formulation of efficiency, as well as its conceptual definitions and applications. Furthermore, the concepts of efficiency, cost, and power are discussed from the biological and medical perspectives. Terrestrial locomotion is a powerful model to study integrative physiology in humans, because by analyzing the mechanical and metabolic determinants, we may verify the efficiency and economy relationship through locomotion type, and its characteristics and restrictions. Thus, it is possible to elaborate further on various improved intervention strategies, such as physical training, competition strategies, and ergogenic supplementation.