The 3D Path of Body Centre of Mass During Adult Human Walking on Force Treadmill

Three-dimensional (3D) path of the body centre of mass (CM) over an entire stride was computed from ground reaction forces during walking at constant average speed on a treadmill mounted on 3D force sensors. Data were obtained from 18 healthy adults at speeds ranging from 0.30 to 1.40 ms(-1), in 0.1 ms(-1) increments. Six subsequent strides were analyzed for each subject and speed (total strides=1296). The test session lasted about 30 min (10 min for walking). The CM path had an upward concave figure-of-eight shape that was highly consistent within and across subjects. Vertical displacement of the CM increased monotonically as a function of walking speed. The forward and particularly lateral displacements of the CM showed a U-shaped relationship to speed. The same held for the total 3D displacement (25.6-16.0 cm, depending on the speed). The results provide normative benchmarks and suggest hypotheses for further physiologic and clinical research. The familiar inverted pendulum model might be expanded to gyroscopic, "spin-and-turn" models. Abnormalities of the 3D path might flag motor impairments and recovery.