We studied one gait cycle for the right leg during motion without a load on the back and with a load on the back. Although the overall gait cycle time was similar for gait without a load (1.16 s) and gait with a load (1.12 s), the duration of the stance phase was relatively shorter in gait without a load (49%) than in gait with a load (59%). The duration of the stance phase was 0.56 s for gait without a load and 0.66 s in gait with a load. The stance and swing phases are the two components of gait analysis. The stance phase is defined as heel strike of foot until the toe is pushed off the ground. The swing phase, which follows, is the region where the foot does not touch the ground until another heel strike.
We compared the gait cycle of the right leg in gait without a load on the back and in gait with a load on the back. The stance phase started with slight extension of the lumbar spine (at the thoracolumbar, T12-L1 joint), extension of the hip, and flexion of the knee. In contrast to gait without a load, gait with a load underwent greater extension of the hip. The stance phase consisted of slight flexion of the lumbar joint, extension of the hip, and extension of the knee. Gait with a load had greater flexion at the hip compared to gait without a load. In gait with and without a load on the back the spine segments did not produce significant differences.
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Figure 2. One gait cycle without a load (left) and one gait cycle with a load (right). The body segments seen are cervical spine, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, thigh, and shank. The arrows indicate the direction of movement. The two black squares indicate reference markers. | |
