On the Influence of Gravity and the Muscles on the Swinging Movement of the Leg

Abstract

In the previous chapter the kinematic basis necessary for a kinetic analysis of the swinging movement of the leg was thoroughly deduced. Assuming a plane movement, the angular accelerations of the thigh, lower leg and foot during the swinging of the leg were defined for each phase of movement at intervals of 0.01 s. In addition, for the same phases the horizontal and vertical components of the accelerations imparted to the centres of gravity of the three segments of the leg by the forces acting during the swinging period as a consequence of their joint connections were calculated. The relationships between all these data for the case that not only gravity but also muscular forces exert an effect on the movement of the leg were also discussed.