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Walking is an activity that we normally take for granted; we consciously start or stop, and give attention to avoidance of obstacles, but otherwise this complex, co-ordinated procedure is seemingly simple and automatic.
Walking, in technical terms, is a form of bipedal (or quadripedal) progression in which there are periods of double support, when both feet are on the ground, alternating with periods of single support. This distinguishes walking from faster gaits in which ground contact is absent for brief periods. Whilst it is commonplace, its mechanics and neurological control are complex. Many neurological disorders affect walking efficiency.
Events in both limbs are essentially identical but are phase shifted. The sequence of events in the right limb begins with heel contact with the ground. At this point the left foot is still on the ground (the first phase of double support). The body moves forward and the centre of gravity passes in front of the left toes. At this point the weight is supported by the right limb alone, the left limb flexes and swings forward. The left limb begins to extend later in the swing phase, causing left heel contact with the ground. This initiates a second period of double support, which is followed by the swing phase in the right limb terminating in right heel contact. The smooth forward movement of the centre of gravity includes lateral movements so that the centre of gravity lies over the right foot during single support on that limb. There are symmetrical leftward sways during left limb stance. In addition, the centre of gravity rises and falls by some 50 mm.
Young adults typically select a range of normal walking speeds of between 80 and 100 metres per minute. This corresponds to a stride length of about 1.4 m, i.e. a step length of 0.7 m, and a stride duration of about 1 second. The duration of the stance phase for each foot is about 0.65 second. The peak vertical force rises to about 120% of body weight during the stance phase.
Limb muscles generally show single bursts of activity during each step. Extensor (leg straightening) muscle activity typically begins just before heel contact to prepare the limb for load bearing, whilst flexor muscle activity is confined to the swing phase after toe-off, to allow the limb to swing through to its new landing position. The bulk of the forward propulsive force comes from a second short burst of activity in the knee and ankle extensors just before toe-off.
The patterns of muscle activity during walking are generated by networks of neurons located in the spinal cord and accorded the description central pattern generator. These networks, which generate a simple locomotor rhythm, draw upon, and are influenced by, reflexes evoked by sensory inputs from the muscles, skin, and joints, particularly the hip joint. In many animals — the cat, dog, rat, and mouse, for example — and for swimming movements in fish, this locomotor network can express its rhythmic activity entirely independently of control from higher centres in the brain, hence the other name, spinal locomotor centre. In the case of the rabbit the movement is a bilaterally synchronous ‘hopping’ movement. Attempts to demonstrate that such mechanisms can be activated in (spinal man) (when the spinal cord is cut off by injury from the higher parts of the nervous system at a level above the segments that control walking) have however failed. If they could have been elicited it would have facilitated the development of prosthetic devices that could enable spinal man to walk. As it is, even extremely complicated computer control aimed at stimulating muscles with the same pattern as in natural walking has been only partially effective; this emphasizes the importance of the control exerted by the brain despite the automated nature of walking. Nevertheless, it remains likely that when one wishes to walk, or to stop walking, the commands issued from the brain are actually turning on, or off, a spinal pattern generator comparable to that demonstrated in animals.
— R. H. Baxendale
See also gait; movement, control of; posture.
Walking is one of the most popular exercises. It has many benefits. It is a low-impact exercise with very little risk of injury; it requires the minimum of special equipment (good shoes and loose-fitting clothing are usually sufficient); the whole family can take part; and it has the added advantage of being socially acceptable for women and older people.
Many people believe that only strenuous exercise has health benefits. This is not true. Exercise no more exhausting than a brisk walk can lower blood cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Walking about 10 miles (16 kilometres) per week at about 60 per cent maximum aerobic capacity, is enough for the heart to benefit, and, cardiologists estimate, may reduce the risk of heart attack by half.
Walking can improve aerobic fitness, as long as it is done fast enough. As you walk faster, you can expect to improve your aerobic fitness at a higher rate. Strolling at 20 minutes per mile pace is likely to improve your maximum aerobic capacity (VO2 max) by no more than 5 per cent; walking at 15 minutes per mile pace may almost double that improvement; and if you walk very fast (at 12 minutes per mile pace), your VO2 max may improve as much as 15 per cent. Benefits gained from fast walking can be as good as those derived from running, cycling, or swimming. Very fast walking is sometimes called power walking. Some people use hand weights to increase the resistance and to develop upper body muscles. These weights are generally not effective unless they are used in an exaggerated way that disturbs the stride pattern and increases the risk of injury.
If you wish to walk to improve health:
• walk at least three times a week
• start with a 1 mile (1.6 km) and walk at a slow pace (20 minutes per mile)
• add a quarter of a mile (400 m) a week until you can walk three miles easily.
This will be enough to improve your health, but if you wish to improve your aerobic fitness you will need to increase your pace gradually. Aim to do one of the three miles in 15 minutes, then two, and finally all three. When you have achieved this, aim to do one mile in 12 minutes, and so on. Be patient. It will take about six months before you feel the real benefits of your training.
For more information on walking, visit Britannica.com.
Locomotion in which the body is moved in a particular direction while maintaining foot-contact with the ground.
A normal slow gait in all species.
Jim likes walking to school alone.
Quotes:
"When one walks, one is brought into touch first of all with the essential relations between one's physical powers and the character of the country; one is compelled to see it as its natives do. Then every man one meets is an individual. One is no longer regarded by the whole population as an unapproachable and uninteresting animal to be cheated and robbed."
- Aleister Crowley
"If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can't go at dawn and not many places he can't go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking -- one sport you shouldn't have to reserve a time and a court for."
- Edward Hoagland
"All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking."
- Friedrich Nietzsche
"The true charm of pedestrianism does not lie in the walking, or in the scenery, but in the talking. The walking is good to time the movement of the tongue by, and to keep the blood and the brain stirred up and active; the scenery and the woodsy smells are good to bear in upon a man an unconscious and unobtrusive charm and solace to eye and soul and sense; but the supreme pleasure comes from the talk."
- Mark Twain
Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling. When carried out in shallow waters, it is usually described as wading and when performed over a steeply rising object or an obstacle it becomes scrambling or climbing. The word walking is derived from the Old English walkan (to roll).
Walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground: for humans and other bipeds running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. (This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events, often resulting in disqualification even at the Olympic level.) For horses and other quadrupedal species, the running gaits may be numerous, and walking keeps three feet at a time on the ground.
The average human child achieves independent walking ability between nine and fifteen months old.
While not strictly bipedal, several primarily bipedal human gaits (where the long bones of the arms support at most a small fraction of the body's weight) are generally regarded as variants of walking. These include:
For humans, walking is the main form of transportation without a vehicle or riding animal. An average walking speed is about 5 km/h (3 mph), although this depends heavily on factors such as height, weight, age and terrain. A pedestrian is a walking person, in particular on a road (if available on the sidewalk/path/pavement).
Human walking is accomplished with a strategy called the double pendulum. During forward motion, the leg that leaves the ground swings forward from the hip. This sweep is the first pendulum. Then the leg strikes the ground with the heel and rolls through to the toe in a motion described as an inverted pendulum. The motion of the two legs is coordinated so that one foot or the other is always in contact with the ground. The process of walking recovers approximately sixty per cent of the energy used due to pendulum dynamics and ground reaction force. [1][2][3]
The biomechanist Gracovetsky argues that the spine is the major agent in human locomotion. He bases his conclusions on the case of a man born without legs. The man was able to walk albeit slowly on his pelvis. Gracovetsky claims that however important to wellbeing, the function of legs is secondary in a strictly mechanical sense. Legs enable the spine to harvest the energy of gravity in an efficient manner. The legs act as long levers that transfer ground reaction force to the spine. [4]
Lumbar motion during walking consists mostly of sideways rotation. [5] Gracovetsky observes that fish use the same lateral motion to swim. He believes the mechanism first evolved in fish and was later adapted by amphibians, reptiles, mammals and humans to their respective modes of locomotion.
Many people walk as a hobby, and in our post-industrial age it is often enjoyed as a form of
exercise. Fitness walkers and others may use a pedometer to count their steps. The types of walking include bushwalking,
racewalking, weight-walking, hillwalking,
volksmarching, Nordic walking and hiking on
long-distance paths. Sometimes people prefer to walk indoors using a
treadmill. In some countries walking as a hobby is known as hiking (the typical North American term), rambling (a somewhat dated British expression, but remaining in use
because it is enshrined in the title of the important Ramblers' Association), or
tramping (the invariable term in
The world's largest registration walking event is the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen. The annual Labor Day walk on Mackinac Bridge draws over sixty thousand participants. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge walk annually draws over fifty thousand participants. Walks are often organized as charity events with walkers seeking sponsors to raise money for a specific cause. Charity walks range in length from two mile or five km walks to as far as fifty miles (eighty km). The MS Challenge Walk is an example of a fifty mile walk which raises money to fight multiple sclerosis. The Oxfam Trailwalker is a one hundred km event.
In Britain, the Ramblers' Association is the biggest organisation that looks after the interests of walkers. A registered charity, it has 139 000 members.
Walking is also the most basic and common mode of transportation. People around the world use it to get to work, school, do their shopping and to wherever it is the most convenient way.
There has been a recent focus among urban planners in some communities to create pedestrian-friendly areas and roads, allowing commuting, shopping and recreation to be done on foot. Some communities are at least partially car-free, making them particularly supportive of walking and other modes of transportation. In the United States, the Active Living network is an example of a concerted effort to develop communities more friendly to walking and other physical activities.
On roads with no sidewalks, pedestrians should always walk facing the oncoming traffic for their own and other peoples' safety.
When distances are too great to be convenient, walking can be combined with other modes of transportation, such as cycling, public transport, car sharing, carpooling, hitchhiking, ride sharing, car rentals and taxis. These methods may be more efficient or desirable than private car ownership.
The first successful attempts at walking robots tended to have 6 legs. The number of legs was reduced as microprocessor technology advanced, and there are now a number of robots that can walk on 2 legs, albeit not nearly as well as a human being.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Dansk (Danish)
adj. - gående, omvandrende, gang-
idioms:
Français (French)
adj. - ambulant
n. - promenade à pied, marche à pied
idioms:
Deutsch (German)
adj. - gehend, Wander-, Schreit-, Lauf-
n. - Gehen
idioms:
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - κατάλληλος για περίπατο, ελκόμενος ή καθοδηγούμενος
n. - βάδισμα, πεζοπορία, περπάτημα, περπατησιά, τρόπος βαδίσματος
idioms:
idioms:
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - andador
n. - caminhada (f)
idioms:
Русский (Russian)
ходьба, спортивная ходьба, походка, дорога, манера держаться, гуляющий, ходячий, на шагающем ходу, ходовой
idioms:
Español (Spanish)
adj. - caminante, ambulante, de andar, oscilante
n. - caminata, paseo, paso, modo de andar
idioms:
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - vandrande
n. - gående, gång, promenad
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
能行走的, 步行的
idioms:
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 能行走的, 步行的
idioms:
한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 걷는, 걸으면서 조작하는, (기계가) 이동하는
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 歩くこと
adj. - 歩く, 歩行用の
idioms:
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) بشري, حي, متجول, قادر على المشي, ملائم للمشي, متذبذب, غير مقعد, سيار (الاسم) المشي
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - מהלך, טיולי, של טיול, להליכה
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| World of the Body. The Oxford Companion to the Body. Copyright © 2001, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Food and Fitness. Food and Fitness: A Dictionary of Diet and Exercise. Copyright © 1997, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Sports Science and Medicine. The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science & Medicine. Copyright © Michael Kent 1998, 2006, 2007. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Walking". Read more |
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