- Proper technical form in walking and running is critical. Everyone talks about it at the ground level assuming we are all idiots. No one is getting down to the roots of the problems and solutions like we try to do. This means reducing Cross Over gait pathologies which we have shown you previously.
- Attempt to maintain clean movement patterns free from compensations. For one, make sure you have sufficient ankle rocker (dorsiflexion bend).
- Make sure your abdominal muscles and core are symmetrical and strong. Obliques are key but not exclusively so. They will make sure that your initial hip flexion comes from them and not the hip flexors !
- Do your glute work to ensure your glutes are in charge of hip extension and not your quadriceps.
- Make sure you are not a victim of compensations such as overactive hip flexors, weak hip abductors and premature calf engagement.
Now, lets get into the details, this summary is pretty soft.
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Locomotion is “the translation of the center of gravity through space along a path requiring the least expenditure of energy. Pathologic gait may be viewed as an attempt to preserve as low a level of energy consumption as possible by exaggerations of the motions of the unaffected levels. When a person loses one of the six determinants of human gait compensation is reasonably effective. Loss of two determinants makes effective compensation impossible; the cost in terms of energy consumption triples adn apparently discourages the patient to the point of his admitting defeat." Basmajian, 1953, Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed by Electromyography. (Yes, it is 60 year old statement, but we use this book all the time because it is one of a kind and this guy was ahead of his time. His information is frighteningly accurate even on today’s research terms.)
- Proper technical form in walking and running is critical. Everyone talks about it at the ground level assuming we are all idiots. No one is getting down to the roots of the problems and solutions like we try to do. This means reducing Cross Over gait pathologies which we have shown you previously.
- Maintain clean movement patterns free from compensations. Thus, make sure you have sufficient ankle rocker (dorsiflexion bend).
- Make sure your abdominal muscles and core are symmetrical and strong. Obliques are key but not exclusively so. They will make sure that your initial hip flexion comes from them and not the hip flexors !
- Do your glute work to ensure your glutes are in charge of hip extension and not your quadriceps.
- Make sure you are not a victim of compensations such as overactive hip flexors, weak hip abductors and premature calf engagement.
Who are we ? Shawn and Ivo, The Gait Guys. Two doctors dedicated to challenging the myths and lies out there in the world and on the internet on gait and running from the perspectives of orthopedics, neurology and biomechanics.
How robust is human gait to muscle weakness?
Source
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Research Institute MOVE, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Abstract
Humans have a remarkable capacity to perform complex movements requiring agility, timing, and strength. Disuse, aging, and disease can lead to a loss of muscle strength, which frequently limits the performance of motor tasks. It is unknown, however, how much weakness can be tolerated before normal daily activities become impaired. This study examines the extent to which lower limb muscles can be weakened before normal walking is affected. We developed muscle-driven simulations of normal walking and then progressively weakened all major muscle groups, one at the time and simultaneously, to evaluate how much weakness could be tolerated before execution of normal gait became impossible. We further examined the compensations that arose as a result of weakening muscles. Our simulations revealed that normal walking is remarkably robust to weakness of some muscles but sensitive to weakness of others. Gait appears most robust to weakness of hip and knee extensors, which can tolerate weakness well and without a substantial increase in muscle stress. In contrast, gait is most sensitive to weakness of plantarflexors, hip abductors, and hip flexors. Weakness of individual muscles results in increased activation of the weak muscle, and in compensatory activation of other muscles. These compensations are generally inefficient, and generate unbalanced joint moments that require compensatory activation in yet other muscles. As a result, total muscle activation increases with weakness as does the cost of walking. By clarifying which muscles are critical to maintaining normal gait, our results provide important insights for developing therapies to prevent or improve gait pathology.