The influence of differente speeds on backpacker's gait kinectics

This study analyzed the influence of different speeds on ground reaction force’s (GRF), impulses and mean vertical force during gait of people submitted to occasional overload (backpack). A force plate was used to record the GRF data of 60 young adult subjects walking in two different cadences: 69 steps/min (slow gait) and 120 steps/min (fast gait). During the slow gait, the impact and propulsive impulses of vertical GRF, propulsive impulse of anterior-posterior GRF, impulse of medial-lateral GRF and duration of stance phase were larger than during the fast gait; the mean vertical force was the only variable that showed larger values during fast gait. Therefore, slow gait may present a larger possibility of blister development and gait unbalance, while the fast gait, even presenting a small impulse, seems to be more harmful to the musculoskeletal system.