How animals move: an integrative view
Recent advances in integrative studies of locomotion have revealed several general principles. Energy storage and exchange mechanisms d...
Regulation of stiffness by skeletomotor reflexes
Since the early 1950s when Merton introduced his 'follow-up serco hypothesis' of movement control, the dominant optinion has held that ...
Determinants of the center of mass trajectory in human walking and running
Walking is often modeled as an inverted pendulum system in which the center of mass vaults over the rigid stance limb. Running is model...
Hopping frequency in humans: a test of how springs set stride frequency in bouncing gaits
The storage and recovery of elastic energy in muscle-tendon springs is important in running, hopping, trotting, and galloping. We hypot...
Energetics of walking and running: insights from simulated reduced-gravity experiments
On Earth, a person uses about one-half as much energy to walk a mile as to run a mile. On another planet with lower gravity, would walk...
Energetics and mechanics of human running on surfaces of different stiffnesses
Mammals use the elastic components in their legs (principally tendons, ligaments, and muscles) to run economically, while maintaining c...
Biomechanics of quadrupedal walking: how do four-legged animals achieve inverted pendulum-like movements
Walking involves a cyclic exchange of gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the center of mass. Our goal was to understa...
Athletic footwear, leg stiffness, and running kinematics
CONTEXT: The leg acts as a linear spring during running and hopping and adapts to the stiffness of the surface, maintaining constant to...
A mechanical trigger for the trot-gallop transition in horses
It is widely thought that animals switch gaits at speeds that minimize energetic cost. Horses naturally switched from a trot to a gallo...