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gait

 
Dictionary: gait   (gāt) pronunciation
n.
  1. A particular way or manner of moving on foot: a person who ran with a clumsy, hobbling gait.
  2. Any of the ways, such as a canter, trot, or walk, by which a horse can move by lifting the feet in different order or rhythm.
  3. Rate or manner of proceeding: The project went forward at a steady gait.
tr.v., gait·ed, gait·ing, gaits.

To train (a horse) in a particular gait or gaits.

[Middle English gate, path, gait, from Old Norse gata, path.]


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Gait is a general term covering a series of modes of forward progression. In humans, it encompasses the only two familiar types: walking and running. However, other bipeds like kangaroos have radically different mechanisms of gait, and quadrupeds such as the horse have a much fuller repertoire of gaits including walking, trotting, cantering, and galloping, that involve quite different patterns of movement. Human walking and running varies only in speed.

The general principle is that increases in speed are associated with lifting each foot earlier in the stride cycle and placing it so that stride length is increased.

The choice of gait is largely determined by the energy cost of progression. In each case the most economical gait is selected, although the mechanism by which the central nervous system makes the selection remains unknown.

The power requirement for gait increases linearly with speed in each mode of gait. However, the efficiency with which this power is converted into forward motion varies. In general, each limb is used like a pendulum, swinging forward passively at low speeds and accelerated forward at higher speeds of progression. The increased flexion of the limb at the knee as humans change from walking to running can be regarded as a attempt to shorten the length of the pendulum, so allowing faster swings forward. This pendulum action is supplemented by storage of energy in the elastic components of the limb, with its subsequent release in the next phase of movement. This is obvious in the ‘spring in the step’ of youngsters, that allows smooth storage and release of energy during gait. It also allows a low energy cost of movement. (This reaches its most sophisticated form in the bouncing gait of the kangaroo and, as a consequence, kangaroos have the most energy-efficient gait in the animal kingdom.)

The management of energy transfer between its kinetic and potential forms requires complex control within the central nervous system. The limbs have to be folded to allow swing phases and stiffened to allow stance in precisely co-ordinated ways. In addition, muscle contraction can be used to stiffen the natural springiness of tendons, so allowing more energy storage.

Many neurological conditions, such as Parkinson's disease and stroke, affect the timings of the muscle activity. This severely affects the efficiency of movement and imposes a large additional demand for muscle activity, which is obvious in slowed gait and reduced endurance.

— R. H. Baxendale

See also walking.

(gāt)
n

A manner of walking; a cyclic loss and regaining of balance by a shift of the line of gravity in relationship to the center of gravity. A person’s gait is as characteristic and as individual as a fingerprint.

The manner or style of locomotion. Often used in assessing horses and dogs. See also ataxia, dysmetria, incoordination, spastic, stringhalt, walk, trot, canter, gallop (2), cadence, five-gaited.

  • g. analysis — evaluation of the manner or style of walking, usually done by observing the animal as it walks or trots in a straight line. The normal forward step consists of two phases: the stance phase, during which one or more legs and feet are bearing most or all of the body weight, and the swing phase, during which the other feet are not touching the walking surface and the body weight is borne by the others. In a complete two-step cycle all feet are in contact with the ground at the same time for about 25% of the time. This part of the cycle is called the double-support phase.
  • — An analysis of each component of the three phases of ambulation is an essential part of the diagnosis of various neurological disorders and the assessment of patient progress during rehabilitation and recovery from the effects of a neurological disease, a musculoskeletal injury or disease process, or amputation of a lower extremity.
  • antalgic g. — a limp adopted so as to avoid pain on weight-bearing structures, characterized by a very short stance phase.
  • ataxic g. — an unsteady, uncoordinated walk, employing a wide base.
  • diagonal g. — one in which a forelimb is moved in unison with its opposite hindlimb, e.g. trot.
  • double-step g. — a gait in which there is a noticeable difference in the length or timing of alternate steps.
  • high stepping g. — may be normal in some fancy gaited horses. In others it may be a sign of blindness or poor proprioception, usually because of a defect in the sensory nervous system. It may also be a manifestation of hypermetria.
  • horse g. — there are three natural gaits, walk, trot, canter and two artificial gaits, the foxtrot, rack. There are a number of other less well-defined gaits similar to foxtrot.
  • spastic g. — a walk in which the legs move in a stiff manner, the toes seeming to drag and catch.
  • staggery g. — see staggers.
  • waddling g. — exaggerated alternation of lateral trunk movements with an exaggerated elevation of the hip, suggesting the gait of a duck.
Word Tutor: gait
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: Carriage of the body while on foot.

pronunciation After the horse stumbled, the jockey was concerned about its gait.

Tutor's tip: The horse's "gait" (a way of walking or running) increased as it approached the "gate" (a movable barrier).

Wikipedia: Gait
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This is an article on gaits of all animals; for other meanings, see: gait (disambiguation).

Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of terrestrial animals, including humans, during locomotion. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Different animal species may use different gaits due to differences in anatomy that prevent use of certain gaits, or simply due to evolved innate preferences as a result of habitat differences. While various gaits are given specific names, the complexity of biological systems and interacting with the environment make these distinctions 'fuzzy' at best. Gaits are typically classified according to footfall patterns, but recent studies often prefer definitions based on mechanics.

Due to the rapidity of animal movement, simple direct observation is rarely sufficient to give any insight into the pattern of limb movement. In spite of early attempts to classify gaits based on footprints or the sound of footfalls, it wasn't until Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey began taking rapid series of photographs that proper scientific examination of gaits could begin.

Contents

Overview

Milton Hildebrand pioneered the scientific analysis and classification of gaits. The movement of each limb was partitioned into a stance phase, where the foot was in contact with the ground, and a swing phase, where the foot was lifted and moved forwards. Each limb must complete a cycle in the same length of time, otherwise one limb's relationship to the others can change with time, and a steady pattern cannot occur. Thus, any gait can completely be described in terms of the beginning and end of stance phase of three limbs relative to a cycle of a reference limb, usually the left hindlimb.

Variables

Gait graphs in the style of Hildebrand. Dark areas indicate times of contact, bottom axis is % of cycle

Gaits are generally classed as "symmetrical" and "asymmetrical" based on limb movement. It is important to note that these terms have nothing to do with left-right symmetry. In a symmetrical gait, the left and right limbs of a pair alternate, while in an asymmetrical gait, the limbs move together. Asymmetrical gaits are sometimes termed "leaping gaits", due to the presence of an suspended phase.

The key variables for gait are the duty factor and the forelimb-hindlimb phase relationship. Duty factor is simply the percent of the total cycle which a given foot is on the ground. This value will usually be the same for forelimbs and hindlimbs unless the animal is moving with a specially-trained gait or is accelerating or decelerating. Duty factors over 50% are considered a "walk", while those less than 50% are considered a run. Forelimb-hindlimb phase is the temporal relationship between the limb pairs. If the same-side forelimbs and hindlimbs initiate stance phase at the same time, the phase is 0 (or 100%). If the same-side forelimb contacts the ground half of the cycle later than the hindlimb, the phase is 50%.

Differences between species

Any given animal uses a relatively restricted set of gaits, and different species use different gaits. Almost all animals are capable of symmetrical gaits, while asymmetrical gaits are largely confined to mammals, who are capable of enough spinal flexion to increase stride length (though small crocodilians are capable of using a bounding gait). Lateral sequence gaits during walking and running are most common in mammals, but arboreal mammals such as monkeys, some possums, and kinkajous use diagonal sequence walks for enhanced stability. Diagonal sequence walks and runs (aka trots) are most frequently used by sprawling tetrapods such as salamanders and lizards, due to the lateral oscillations of their bodies during movement. Bipeds are a unique case, and most bipeds will display only three gaits - walking, running, and hopping - during natural locomotion. Other gaits, such as human skipping, are not used without deliberate effort.

Physiological effects of gait

Gait choice can have effects beyond immediate changes in limb movement and speed, notably in terms of ventilation. Because they lack a diaphragm, lizards and salamanders must expand and contract their body wall in order to force air in and out of their lungs, but these are the same muscles used to laterally undulate the body during locomotion. Thus, they cannot move and breathe at the same time, a situation called Carrier's constraint, though some, such as monitor lizards, can circumvent this restriction via buccal pumping. In contrast, the spinal flexion of a galloping mammal causes the abdominal viscera to act as a piston, inflating and deflating the lungs as the animal's spine flexes and extends, increasing ventilation and allowing greater oxygen exchange.

Energy-based gait classification

While gaits can be classified by footfall, new work involving whole-body kinematics and force-plate records has given rise to an alternative classification scheme, based on the mechanics of the movement. In this scheme, movements are simply divided into simply walking and running. Walking gaits are all characterized by a 'vaulting' movement of the body over the legs, frequently described as in inverted pendulum (displaying fluctuations in kinetic and potential energy which are perfectly out of phase). In running, the kinetic and potential energy fluctuate in-phase, and the energy change is passed on to muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments acting as springs (thus it is describes as the spring-mass model).

Energetics

Speed generally governs gait selection, with quadrupedal mammals general moving from a walk to a run to a gallop as speed increases. Each of these gaits has an optimum speed, at which the minimum calories per meter are consumed, and costs increase at slower or faster speeds. Gait transitions occur at the speed where the cost of a fast walk becomes higher than the cost of a slow run. Unrestrained animals will typically move at the optimum speed for their gait to minimize energy cost.

Non-tetrapod gaits

In spite of the differences in leg number shown in terrestrial vertebrates, according to the inverted pendulum model of walking and spring-mass model of running, "walks" and "runs" are seen in animals with 2, 4, 6, or more legs. The term 'gait' has even been applied to flying and swimming organisms who produce distinct patterns of wake vortices.

See also

References


Translations: Gait
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - gang, gangart, fodskifte
v. tr. - træne (hest) i regelmæssig gangart

Nederlands (Dutch)
gang, manier van (hard)lopen, dresseren

Français (French)
n. - démarche, allure, trot, pas, petit galop (un cheval)
v. tr. - dresser/apprendre à un cheval (le petit galop, le trot, le pas, etc)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gang, Gangart
v. - eine Gangart antrainieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - βάδισμα, περπατησιά, βηματισμός, βήμα
v. - μαθαίνω βηματισμό (σε άλογο)

Italiano (Italian)
andatura

Português (Portuguese)
n. - marcha (f), modo (m) de andar
v. - adestrar um cavalo na marcha, preparar para o funcionamento

Русский (Russian)
походка, поступь

Español (Spanish)
n. - manera de andar, paso, andares
v. tr. - enseñar un paso a un caballo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gång, tempo
v. - träna en häst i en speciell gångstil, visa upp en hund inför domare

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
步法, 步态, 训练...的步法

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 步法, 步態
v. tr. - 訓練...的步法

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 걸음걸이
v. tr. - 심사원 앞에 걷게 하다, 걸음걸이를 훈련하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 歩きぶり, 足どり, 馬の足並み

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) مشيه, طريقه العدو (فعل) يدرب على مشيه خاصه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הילוך, צורת הליכה/ריצה‬
v. tr. - ‮הילוך, צורת הליכה/ריצה‬


 
 
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