Effect of very large body mass loss on energetics, mechanics and efficiency of walking in adults with obesity: mass‐driven versus behavioural adaptations

Abstract

He received a BSc, MSc and PhD in Human Movement Sciences. He is interested in the energetics and biomechanics of locomotion in healthy and pathological conditions. His current research focuses on the effect of obesity and ageing on walking economy and mechanics.

Bariatric surgery on obese walking: mass(ive) changes akin to load carrying and hypogravity for normal‐weight adults

“…In contrast, C diminished in obese participants when losing mass after bariatric surgery (black, blue and red symbols in Fig. 1A-C) (Malatesta et al 2022). This latter trend has also been observed in other human models: when walking while carrying loads, C increases (Bastien et al 2005); when gravity is reduced (i.e.…”

“…When energy cost is normalised to the unit of body mass (C; J kg −1 m −1 ), this difference persists, hinting that mass-independent factors are involved (e.g. gait pattern, muscle contractions at disadvantageous lengths or velocities; Malatesta et al 2022). Such greater C leads obese people to increased effort during walking and favours sedentary behaviour.…”

The Effect of Obesity Class on the Energetics and Mechanics of Walking

“…For this reason, we can assume that the NetE (W ext •NetC w −1 ) assessed in our study can well approximate the overall mechanical efficiency (W tot •NetC w −1 ). The lower NetE found in SOG compared to NWG may be explained by a more knee-flexed lower limb at the heel strike [34], which may produce disadvantageous joint loads that would require more muscular tension to prevent the joints from collapsing and to support the body mass [36,40]. Interestingly, an unfavorable joint moment due to considerable load carrying was directly linked to a proportional increase in NetC w [41].…”

“…The higher W p/kg in SOG compared to NWG would appear to be a consequence of greater knee flexion during the foot strike [34]-a load-protective mechanism used to absorb the impact-related ground reaction forces [35]. This more bouncy walking seems to be related to the larger body mass, because after very large weight loss, the knee flexion in the early stance phase was reduced along with a lower W p/kg [34]. Consequently, greater work against gravity needs to be done by the muscles of the trailing leg to raise COM during the single contact phase.…”

“…This is further supported by a significantly higher W p/kg in the former (Figure 2D), thus suggesting that obesity may positively affect the pendular mechanism by making these energies more out of phase (Figure 3B), but at the expense of a poorer magnitude optimization (i.e., W k •W p −1 < 1; Figure 3C). The higher W p/kg in SOG compared to NWG would appear to be a consequence of greater knee flexion during the foot strike [34]-a load-protective mechanism used to absorb the impact-related ground reaction forces [35]. This more bouncy walking seems to be related to the larger body mass, because after very large weight loss, the knee flexion in the early stance phase was reduced along with a lower W p/kg [34].…”