The effects of uphill and downhill walking on pelvic oscillations in the transverse plane

Abstract

Pelvic rotation in the transverse plane is an energy-conserving mechanism employed during normal human locomotion. This mechanism functions to increase stride length and thereby decrease the cadence. II has been suggested (Ducroquel et "I. 1968) that the mechanism of pelvic rotation is lost during the metabolically expensive exercise of ascending or descending slopes. Fourteen healthy young adults were walked on a treadmill al five grades from 20%downhill to 20/:" uphill. Pelvicrotations in the transverse plane were measured. The results show that pelvic rotation is not substantially affected during uphill and downhill walking over the range of grades studied. I. IntroductionHuman locomotion is an extremely complex series of interactions, many of which work to keep energy expenditure to a minimum. Saunders et al. (1953) considered the behaviour of the centre ofmass in a model bipedal system in which the lower limbs were represented by simple, footless and rigid levers. In such a system the centre of mass will rise and fall twice during one complete stride (defined as the period from heel strike to the next heel strike by the same foot). The centre of mass is highest as it moves over the supporting limb, around mid-stance, and lowest at the time of heel strike. The energy cost of the rigid-lever system was high because of the large rise and fall of the centre of mass and was calculated to be almost double that found during normal human gait. Using this model Saunders et al. (1953) described six determinants of human gait which act to reduce the amplitude and/or frequency of the sinusoidal motion of the body's centre of mass and, in so doing, increase the efficiency of the gait. The result is that during normal level walking the centre of mass of the human body describes a sinusoidal path of approximately 5 em amplitude.The first 'determinant' to be isolated by Saunders et al. (1953) was the rotation of the pelvis in the horizontal plane, the others being pelvic frontal plane tilt, eccentric loading of the quadriceps during single support, lateral sway of the pelvis with each step and foot and knee mechanisms for smoothing out the otherwise jarring effect of the intermittent rise and fall of the centre of mass. Obviously each of the so-called 'six determinants of gait' is part of a functional whole in a normal human walker, but formulation of discrete determinants was more a means of breaking down the functional complexity of human locomotion, for reasons ofconvenience, rather than an assertion that there are six (neither more nor less) functionally discrete determinants. Thus the promotion of six determinants is as artificial as would be an attempt to show that the focus of this paper, the first determinant, can be related to each of the others. It is helpful, however, to note that pelvic excursions in the transverse plane occur in synchrony with the swinging leg with the left hip joint moving ahead of the right as the left leg swings. The swing phase on the left side coincides with single support on the right si...

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