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. 2008 Nov 14;41(15):3243-52.
doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2008.07.031. Epub 2008 Sep 25.

Muscle contributions to support and progression over a range of walking speeds

May Q Liu  1 , Frank C Anderson, Michael H Schwartz, Scott L Delp
Affiliations

Muscle contributions to support and progression over a range of walking speeds

May Q Liu et al. J Biomech. .

Abstract

Muscles actuate walking by providing vertical support and forward progression of the mass center. To quantify muscle contributions to vertical support and forward progression (i.e., vertical and fore-aft accelerations of the mass center) over a range of walking speeds, three-dimensional muscle-actuated simulations of gait were generated and analyzed for eight subjects walking overground at very slow, slow, free, and fast speeds. We found that gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, vasti, hamstrings, gastrocnemius, and soleus were the primary contributors to support and progression at all speeds. With the exception of gluteus medius, contributions from these muscles generally increased with walking speed. During very slow and slow walking speeds, vertical support in early stance was primarily provided by a straighter limb, such that skeletal alignment, rather than muscles, provided resistance to gravity. When walking speed increased from slow to free, contributions to support from vasti and soleus increased dramatically. Greater stance-phase knee flexion during free and fast walking speeds caused increased vasti force, which provided support but also slowed progression, while contralateral soleus simultaneously provided increased propulsion. This study provides reference data for muscle contributions to support and progression over a wide range of walking speeds and highlights the importance of walking speed when evaluating muscle function.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors had any financial or personal conflict of interest with regard to this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Musculoskeletal model used to generate three-dimensional simulations of walking for eight subjects, each walking at four speeds (very slow, slow, free, and fast). Shown here are still images from simulations of a representative subject. Each simulation begins during left foot single-limb stance and ends at left terminal swing. The muscle actuator colors indicate the level of activation on a scale from dark blue (no activation) to bright red (full activation).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Joint angles across walking speeds. The shaded area spans the mean ± one standard deviation of the experimental joint angles for 8 subjects. The black line represents the mean simulated joint angles for 8 subject-specific simulations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Sagittal hip, knee, and ankle moments across walking speeds. The shaded area spans the mean ± one standard deviation of the mean moments, normalized by body mass and computed with inverse dynamics from conventional gait analysis for 8 subjects. The black line represents the mean simulated joint moments for 8 subject-specific simulations, normalized by body mass and computed by summing the moments produced by individual muscle actuators.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of experimental and simulated muscle activity across walking speeds. The shaded areas represent the mean ± one standard deviation of the EMG linear envelopes recorded for 8 subjects. The solid and dotted lines represent the mean simulated muscle activations for 8 subjects. Each row includes the EMG data for one surface electrode and simulated activations for representative muscle actuators.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Contributions to the acceleration of the body mass center from ground reaction forces, muscles, and the resistance to gravity by skeletal alignment across walking speeds. Each ray is the resultant vector of the vertical and fore-aft accelerations, averaged across 8 subjects. The black vectors represent the accelerations attributable to the ground reaction force, muscles, or skeletal alignment from the limb undergoing initial contact at 0% of the gait cycle. The red vectors represent accelerations from the contralateral limb. The shaded bars indicate periods of double-limb stance.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Mean peak vertical (A) and fore-aft (B) accelerations of selected muscles from 8 subjects. Error bars span ± one standard deviation. * p < .05 for within-subjects repeated contrasts analyses. ** p < .01 for within-subjects repeated contrasts analyses.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Contributions to the acceleration of the body mass center from selected muscles across walking speeds. Each ray is the resultant vector of the vertical and fore-aft accelerations, averaged across 8 subjects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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