Walking Speed Cadence * length. Same for steps or strides.
Varies with height, age, and sex (to a lesser extent). Tall, young men tend to be fastest. In
adults, it is also correlated with aerobic fitness (Merton & Goode 1993).
Height and Walking Speed Tall people have longer levers (legs) and thus generally walk
faster. Though this is an overall trend, individuals show variance from the trend.
Events of Stride Cycle Observable milestones occurring at a particular time in the stride
cycle.
Heel contact, flat foot, heel off, toe off, and mid swing.
Heel Contact (HC) 0% SC, 100% SC.
Time where heel first makes contact with the ground.
Flat Foot (FF) About 20% SC.
Time where forefoot strikes ground. Rear and forefoot are both on the ground.
Heel Off (HO) About 40% SC.
Time where heel leaves the ground. Forefoot is still on the ground.
Toe Off (TO) About 60% SC.
Time where toe leaves the ground. Foot is no longer in contact with the ground.
Mid Swing (MS) About 80% SC.
Halfway between toe off and next heel contact. Not readily identifiable.
, Phases of Stride Cycle Periods of time between events.
Stance (single and double) and swing.
Stance (St) About 0-60% SC.
Time between heel contact and toe off. Foot is on the ground.
Single Stance (SSt) About 10-50% SC.
One foot is on the ground, the other is in the air.
Double Stance (DSt) About 0-10% SC and 50-60% SC.
Both feet are on the ground. Occurs two times per stride cycle.
Swing (Sw) About 60-100% SC.
Time between toe off and heel contact. Time that foot is in the air.
Normalization of Gait Description. There is much variation in gait, both between subjects
and in the same subject between sessions. Normalization allows for more varied and more
accurate comparison.
Need to normalize gait variables in time to show similar events at similar points in the stride
cycle. % of a period of a normal stride cycle.
Can also be normalized by subject height or weight.
Sagittal Plane Variables Normalized for bodyweight. Include sagittal kinematics and kinetics.