Abstract
The mechanics of human gait have been considered to minimize the mechanical energy costs of transporting the body. With ageing, however, there are adaptations to gait that may be less mechanically efficient than younger adults’ locomotion. The current study compared the mechanical energy efficiency of gait in young and older adults by characterizing the whole body center of mass mechanics. The efficiencies of the inverted-pendulum model during the single support phase and step-to-step transition during double support were investigated. Older adults walked slower than young controls with shorter and wider steps, and consequently their total energetic cost was lower due to the reduced kinetic energy associated with shorter steps and lower walking velocity. There was, however, no evidence of age-related impairments to mechanical energy efficiency. It was concluded that in preferred speed unobstructed walking ageing leads to gait adaptations that encourage greater stability without increasing the mechanical energy cost.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Nagano, H., Sparrow, W.A., Begg, R. (2013). Ageing Effects on the Mechanical Energy Cost of Walking. In: Long, M. (eds) World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering May 26-31, 2012, Beijing, China. IFMBE Proceedings, vol 39. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29305-4_46
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29305-4_46
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29304-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29305-4
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)