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Great Gait: You don’t see this that often

Great gait brought to our attention by one our readers; one his questions was how he had such great “kick back” traveling at the speed he was traveling at. 

 

Here is an efficient gait:  note he mid foot strikes (you may need to watch it a few times to see it) close to under body and does not over stride; he has great hip extension, and a forward lean at the ankles; even arm swing (note elbows do not go forward of and wrists do not go behind body). It all adds up!

So what causes such great hip extension? Largely 2 factors: forward momentum and glute (all 3; max, med and min) activation. From the last post and EMG studies, we know the glute max contracts at initial contact (foot stance) through loading response (beginning of mid support) and then again at toe off to give a last “burst”; the gluteus medius and minimus contract during most of stance phase. initially to initiate internal rotation of the femur (a requisite for hip extension);  the former to keep the pelvis level and assist in extension and external rotation during the last half of stance phase to assist in supination and creating a rigid lever to push off of. This is, of course, assisted by the opposite leg in swing phase.

Forward lean and momentum move the axis of rotation of the hip behind the center of gravity, assisting the glute max to extend and prepare the lower limb for the bust at push off. The stance limb, now in external rotation, makes it easier to access the sacral (especially) and iliac fibers of the glute max and the posterior fibers of the gluteus medius.

What a orchestration of biomechanics resulting here, in a symphony of beautiful movement.

The Gait Guys. Bringing you great gait, when available…..