Department of Kinesiology The Pennsylvania State University 29 Recreation Building University Park, PA, 16802 USA.
Department of Kinesiology The Pennsylvania State University 29 Recreation Building University Park, PA, 16802 USA.
J Biomech. 2014 Aug 22;47(11):2611-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2014.05.022. Epub 2014 Jun 7.
Segment lengths are known to influence walking kinematics and muscle activity patterns. During level walking at the same speed, taller individuals take longer, slower strides than shorter individuals. Based on this, we sought to determine if segment lengths also influenced hill walking strategies. We hypothesized that individuals with longer segments would display more joint flexion going uphill and more extension going downhill as well as greater lateral gastrocnemius and vastus lateralis activity in both directions. Twenty young adults of varying heights (below 155 cm to above 188 cm) walked at 1.25 m/s on a level treadmill as well as 6° and 12° up and downhill slopes while we collected kinematic and muscle activity data. Subsequently, we ran linear regressions for each of the variables with height, leg, thigh, and shank length. Despite our population having twice the anthropometric variability, the level and hill walking patterns matched closely with previous studies. While there were significant differences between level and hill walking, there were few hill walking variables that were correlated with segment length. In support of our hypothesis, taller individuals had greater knee and ankle flexion during uphill walking. However, the majority of the correlations were between tibialis anterior and lateral gastrocnemius activities and shank length. Contrary to our hypothesis, relative step length and muscle activity decreased with segment length, specifically shank length. In summary, it appears that individuals with shorter segments require greater propulsion and toe clearance during uphill walking as well as greater braking and stability during downhill walking.
节段长度已知会影响步行运动学和肌肉活动模式。在相同速度的水平行走中，较高的个体比较矮的个体迈出的步伐更长、更慢。基于此，我们试图确定节段长度是否也会影响上山行走策略。我们假设，节段较长的个体在上山时会有更多的关节屈曲，下山时会有更多的关节伸展，以及在两个方向上更大的腓肠肌外侧和股外侧肌活动。我们让 20 名不同身高的年轻人（低于 155 厘米到高于 188 厘米）以 1.25 米/秒的速度在水平跑步机上行走，以及在 6°和 12°的上坡和下坡行走，同时收集运动学和肌肉活动数据。随后，我们对每个变量与身高、腿、大腿和小腿长度进行线性回归。尽管我们的人群具有两倍的人体测量变异性，但水平和上山行走模式与之前的研究非常吻合。虽然水平和上山行走之间存在显著差异，但很少有上山行走变量与节段长度相关。支持我们的假设，较高的个体在上山行走时膝盖和脚踝有更大的屈曲。然而，大多数相关性是在前胫骨和腓肠肌外侧活动与小腿长度之间。与我们的假设相反，相对步长和肌肉活动随着节段长度的增加而减少，特别是小腿长度。总的来说，似乎节段较短的个体在上山行走时需要更大的推进力和脚趾 clearance，以及在下坡行走时需要更大的制动和稳定性。
