Recently we have been studying human walking and trying to understand its various components.
Human walking seems so simple as shown in the video below by phsiotutors, but is a very complex activity. It involves multiple muscle movements coordinated into a seamless activity that is a balancing act on two legs accompanied by forward motion.
Walking has been segmented into various components and each of them has been measured. It has been studied by human physiologists to optimize it for running and walking in sports but also to serve as a diagnostic for many disorders.
There are various contradictions in its study. It appears to be unchangeable across the lifetime or only very slowly changeable but on the other hand footwear seems to have a major effect on its components. Think walking in high heels or in uncomfortable shoes. In addition, there are other modifiers to gait that are central nervous system – think alcohol toxicity that makes the subject lose cerebral control of balance and distorts the gait.
Gait affects so much that we do physically, and it deserves further study.
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The picture is credited to Physiotutors and can be downloaded as a high resolution PDF here