Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Energy metabolism is one of the focuses of fitness, weight loss, marching, prosthetic assessment, and medical diagnosis. Rehabilitators and fitness instructors specify movement patterns, amount of exercise and exercise intensity according to the specific conditions and different purposes. Research of energy consumption differences between different movement patterns at the same velocity is less.
OBJECTIVE: To explore gait characteristics and energy consumption differences between two gait patterns of walking and running at the same velocity, providing theoretical support for the public health and the formulation of exercise prescription.
METHODS: The subjects were 20 healthy male college student volunteers. H/P/COSMOS Gaitway treadmill controlled the speed of walking and running. Gas composition analysis instrument VO2000 was used indirectly to test the body's energy expenditure. Tow-dimensional acceleration sensor was placed on the first sacral vertebra to collect anteroposterior and vertical original signals of acceleration.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Step frequency of running pattern was significantly higher that of walking pattern at the same speed. With the speed increments, walking mainly relied on the increase in the step frequency, but running mainly depended on the step length increase to maintain the velocity. The energy expenditure of running was significantly higher than that of walking at the same speed. When running, the root mean square of the centre of mass vertical acceleration was significantly greater than that when walking at the same speed. It is suggested to choose different gait patterns according to different purposes, such as, select the running pattern such as weight loss fitness, and select fast walking pattern in order to economize energy in the long-distance march.