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Steep (30°) uphill walking vs. running: COM movements, stride kinematics, and leg muscle excitations

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European Journal of Applied Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We sought to biomechanically distinguish steep uphill running from steep uphill walking and explore why athletes alternate between walking and running on steep inclines.

Methods

We quantified vertical center of mass (COM) accelerations and basic stride parameters for both walking and running at a treadmill speed of 1.0 m/s on the level and up a 30° incline. We also investigated how electromyography (EMG) of the gluteus maximus (GMAX), vastus medialis (VM), medial gastrocnemius (MG), and soleus (SOL) muscles differ between gaits when ascending steep hills.

Results

The vertical COM accelerations for steep uphill walking exhibited two peaks per step of magnitude 1.47 ± 0.23 g and 0.79 ± 0.10 g. In contrast, steep running exhibited a single peak per step pattern with a magnitude of 1.81 ± 0.15 g. Steep uphill running exhibited no aerial phase, 40% faster stride frequency, and 40% shorter foot–ground contact time compared to steep uphill walking but similar leg swing times. SOL showed 36% less iEMG per stride during steep uphill running versus steep uphill walking, but all other EMG comparisons between steep running and walking were not significantly different.

Conclusions

Multiple biomechanical variables clearly indicate that steep uphill running is a distinctly different gait from steep uphill walking and is more similar to level running. The competing desires to minimize the energetic cost of locomotion and to avoid exhaustion of the SOL may be a possible explanation for gait alternation on steep inclines.

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Fig. 1

adapted from Giovanelli et al. (2015)

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Abbreviations

BW:

Body weight

COM:

Center of mass

EMG:

Electromyography

g :

Gravitational acceleration (= 9.81 m/s2)

GMAX:

Gluteus maximus

iEMG:

integrated EMG

IMU:

Inertial measurement unit

MG:

Medial gastrocnemius

PTS:

Preferred transition speed

SOL:

Soleus

VK:

Vertical kilometer race

VM:

Vastus medialis

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Alena Grabowski for the use of equipment and Dr. Wouter Hoogkamer for his insights and help with MATLAB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Locomotion Laboratory, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0354, USA

    Clarissa S. Whiting, Jackson W. Brill & Rodger Kram

  2. Applied Biomechanics Lab, Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309-0354, USA

    Stephen P. Allen

Authors
  1. Clarissa S. Whiting
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  2. Stephen P. Allen
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  3. Jackson W. Brill
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  4. Rodger Kram
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Contributions

CW, JB and RK—conception and design of research; CW, JB and SA—conducted experiments, analyzed data, statistics; CW, SA and RK—interpreted results of experiments; CW and SA—prepared figures; CW—drafted manuscript; CW, SA and RK—edited and revised manuscript; CW, SA, JB and RK—approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rodger Kram.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Communicated by Jean-René Lacour.

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Whiting, C.S., Allen, S.P., Brill, J.W. et al. Steep (30°) uphill walking vs. running: COM movements, stride kinematics, and leg muscle excitations. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 2147–2157 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04437-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04437-y

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