Graduation Date

Spring 2020

Document Type

Thesis

Program

Master of Science degree with a major in Kinesiology, option Exercise Science

Committee Chair Name

Dr. Justus D. Ortega

Committee Chair Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Second Committee Member Name

Dr. Whitney Ogle

Second Committee Member Affiliation

HSU Faculty or Staff

Third Committee Member Name

Dr. Jill Pawlowski

Keywords

Gait transitions, Reduced gravity, Added mass, Added load, Walking, Running, Kinematics

Subject Categories

Kinesiology

Abstract

The Dynamic Similarity hypothesis suggests gravitational and inertial forces plays a role in determining preferred transition speed (PTS) for walk to run transitions (WRT) and run to walk transitions (RWT), and that humans prefer to transition gait when the ratio of inertial force (IF) to gravitational force (GF) (i.e. Froude #) is ~0.5. Purpose: To investigate the effect of gravitational and inertial forces on PTS, Froude # (Fr) and kinematics for both WRT and RWT. Methods: Twelve healthy adults (9 M, 3 F) performed WRT and RWT trials on a treadmill across seven combinations of altered body weight (BW) and body mass (BM). Participants performed PTS at 1.0BM/1.0BW, 0.70 and 0.85 BW/1.0 BM (-GF), 1.15 and 1.30 BM/1.0 BW (+IF), and 1.15 and 1.30 of both BW and BM (+GF+IF). For each condition, we determined PTS by increasing speed (WRT) or decreasing speed (RWT) by 0.09 m/s every 30 seconds. Results: Neither +IF or +GF+IF affected WRT speed (p>.05). +GF+IF did not affect the Fr at WRT (p=.135). For RWT, PTS did not change due to -GF (p=.263), +IF (p=.658) or +GF+IF (p=.202). Yet, -GF and +IF increased RWT Fr (pFr of RWT (p=.426). Conclusion: WRT speed and Fr are influenced by changes in gravitational forces but are unaffected by changes in inertial forces or changes in both gravitational and inertial forces. The relation between gravitational and inertial forces did not appear to influence RWT speed but did affect the RWT Fr.

Citation Style

APA

Included in

Biomechanics Commons

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