Gait Analysis and

Biomechanics
Chapter 12

Overview

Defining the gait cycle

Guessing game: sagittal joint kinematics
Sprinting kinematics
Ground reaction forces
Walking at different speeds
Running
Implications on Joint Moments

One pathology

Basic Vocabulary
The gait cycle: initial contact of one
leg to initial contact of the same leg
E.G. right heelstrike right heelstrike

Includes two phases

Stance Phase: when the foot is on the
ground
Swing Phase: when the leg is swinging
forwards
SWING

SWING
SWING

Basic Vocabulary
Includes important events:
Initial contact (heelstrike)
Toe-off
Opposite toe-off (e.g. when the left leg
leaves the ground)
Opposite initial contact (e.g. when the
left leg finishes swinging and hits the
ground again)

Basic Vocabulary
Base of support
At heelstrike, you are in double limb
support
In the middle of stance phase, you are in
single limb support
After opposite heelstrike, you are once
again in double limb support
SWING

SWING
SWING

Cadence and Step Length

Step Length
distance from one foot strike to the next
(left to right or right to left)
about 0.75 m for normal adults

Stride Length (one gait cycle)

two successive steps (by both left and
right feet)
about 1.5 m for normal adults

 Cadence
number of steps (left and right) taken
per minute
about 110 st/min for normal adults
Like a pendulum, lower-limb swings at a
frequency (cadence) inversely
proportional to its length, so shorter
people have a higher cadence.

 Velocity
about 1.5 m/s or 5 km/hr in normal adults

Velocity = stride length x cadence

120
and therefore:

Stride length = 120 x velocity

cadence

Children
Children have shorter legs, so cadence
is increased
170 st/min at age 1 yr to 140 st/min at 7y

Stride length is roughly the same as

height (stature), so a child 0.5 m tall will
have an expected stride length of about
0.5 m
Velocity is roughly 1 stature/s, so a child
0.5 m tall will have an expected walking
velocity of about 0.5 m/s

Guessing Game
Sagittal plane joint angle
Graphed for one side from heelstrike
to heelstrike
Vertical line separates stance phase
from swing phase

Joint Kinematics: sample

Ankle
Dorsiflexion

Plantarflexion

Heelstrike

Toe-of

Heelstri
ke

Joint Kinematics
Ankle
Dorsiflexion

Plantarflexion

Heelstrike

Toe-of

Heelstri
ke

Ankle Rockers

(Perry)

First rocker: ankle platarflexion

after heelstrike
Second Rocker: ankle dorsiflexion
Foot is stationary
Tibia is rotating over the foot

Third rocker: Forefoot dorsiflexion

as heel rises (foot rocker)

Knee

Flexion

Extension

Heelstrike

Toe-of

Heelstri
ke

Hip

Flexion

Extension

Heelstrike

Toe-of

Heelstri
ke

Sprinting looks quite

different
Note femur parallel to ground
Note clearance

Ground Reaction Force

(Newtons 3rd Law of motion)
Walking
Heel strike transient
Slow
Fast

Running
No double-limb support

One key to understanding

gait
Moments!

External Moments
Hip

Knee

Ankle

External Moments
Hip

Knee

Ankle

External Moments
Hip

Knee

Ankle

External Moments
Hip

Knee

Ankle

External Moments
Hip

Knee

Ankle

Key to Understanding
Pathological Gait
MOMENTS!
Example: what if quadriceps is weak?

Whats the
external
moment on
the knee?
Flexor or
extensor?

Model
What muscles must
resist an external
knee flexor
moment?

Resisting a moment
The knee extensors must resist an
external knee flexion moment
What are the knee extensors?
What if they are weak?

Adaptations
What can be done to
protect quads?
Reduce flexion
moment
How?
Affect moment arm
How?
Affect vector
direction
Affect joint center

Adaptations
What can be done to
protect quads?
Reduce flexion
moment
Move knee center back
Move GRF direction
forward

Anterior Trunk Lean

Other solutions
Knee hyperextension
Dynamic Limb Retraction
Hand on thigh

Applications of Net
Moments
Related to walking
Frontal Plane

 Identify:
Direction of
moment about right
hip when left leg is
off the ground
Muscles that must
fire to resist that
moment

Question
What happens if right abductors are
weak?
Trendelenberg Sign

What could a cane do at the

hip?
Construct a free body diagram that
demonstrates how the use of a cane
can alleviate compression on the hip

Weight on
one leg
large
moment
resisted by
abductors

Summary
Walking and running are complex
cyclic motions that involve
interaction of both limbs and large
sagittal plane motion
Ground reaction forces and joint
moments improve understanding of
normal and pathological gait