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Applied Ergonomics 39 (2008) 144149

www.elsevier.com/locate/apergo

Ergonomic effects of load carriage on energy cost of gradient walking

Daijiro Abea,, Satoshi Murakib, Akira Yasukouchib
a

Faculty of Human Sciences, University of East Asia, 2-1 Ichinomiya Gakuen-cho, Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi 751-8503, Japan
Department of Human Living System Design, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University,4-9-1 Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka 815-8540, Japan
Received 1 March 2006; accepted 29 June 2007

Abstract
We examined the effects of load on the energy cost of walking (Cw), being dened as the ratio of the 2-min steady-state oxygen
consumption to the speed, and economical speed (ES) during level and gradient walking. Ten men walked on a treadmill at various
speeds with and without a load on their back at 0% and 75% gradients. Signicantly lower Cw values were observed only when the load
was carried on the back during level walking at slower speeds. The ES was signicantly decreased by less than 5% when the load was
carried on the back. Signicant gradient differences were also observed in the ES in the load and no load conditions. These results would
be applicable to a wider range of occupational and leisure tasks.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Optimal speed; Free-ride; Locomotion

1. Introduction
Recent studies revealed that the energy expenditure
during walking with load does not always increase linearly
as a function of the carrying weight (Abe et al., 2004;
Stuempe et al., 2004). Charteris et al. (1989a, b) and
Maloiy et al. (1986) have proposed a free-ride hypothesis
that the energy expenditure during walking with load
carried on the head does not necessarily increase in African
women if the load is less than 20% of their body mass.
Recently, a similar phenomenon to the free-ride was also
found in Nepalese porters (Bastien et al., 2005a, b).
In relation to such an energy-saving phenomenon during
walking with load, it was worth noting that the load was
always carried on the upper part of the body, such as on the
head (Bastien et al., 2005a; Charteris et al., 1989a, b; Maloiy
et al., 1986) and on the back (Abe et al., 2004; Stuempe et
al., 2004). Another point in common in previous studies was
the fact that such a phenomenon was observed at slower
walking speeds only. Thus, Abe et al. (2004) pointed out that
a similar phenomenon to the free-ride could be found only
when the load was carried on the back at slower walking
Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 832 57 5166; fax: +81 832 56 1485.

E-mail address: daijiro@toua-u.ac.jp (D. Abe).

0003-6870/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2007.06.001

speeds, and further suggested that an interaction between the

rotative torque functioning around the center of body mass
and an excessive burden on the lower leg muscles
comprehensively affected the energetics of walking (Fig. 1).
If a similar phenomenon to the free-ride can be found not
only during level walking but also during gradient walking,
then the practical benet will be applicable to a wider range
of occupational and leisure tasks. Indeed, as recently
discussed by Bastien et al. (2005b), the argument with regard
to the energetics of gradient walking with load is still open.
We hereby hypothesized that a phenomenon similar to the
free-ride could be found not only during level walking but
also during gradient walking, because the possible explanation for a similar phenomenon to the free-ride proposed by
Abe et al. (2004) appeared to be independent of the gradient
of the terrain. The rst purpose of this study was to examine
whether a similar phenomenon to the free-ride would be
found not only during level walking but also during gradient
walking.
It has been reported that there exists a specic walking
speed that can minimize the metabolic energy cost of
walking per unit distance (Cw: ml/kg/m) in each person
(Saibene and Minetti, 2003). The walking speed corresponding to the minimum energy cost per unit distance has
been called the economical speed (ES) or optimal speed

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D. Abe et al. / Applied Ergonomics 39 (2008) 144149

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gradient (Margaria, 1938). Minetti et al. (2003) indicated

that the ES decreased as a function of positive gradient, but
the load was not carried in those previous studies. Here, it
was also hypothesized that the ES obtained from each
gradient would be slower in the load condition than in the
no load condition. However, it was assumed that the
percentage decrease in the ES during level and gradient
walking with load would not be great so much when
compared to the 15% load of the subjects body mass, if a
similar phenomenon to the free-ride appeared not only
during level walking but also during gradient walking with
load. Therefore, the second purpose of this study was to
examine the effects of load carriage on the ES during level
and gradient walking.
2. Methods
2.1. Subjects
Ten healthy male subjects participated in this study. The
physical characteristics of those subjects were
169.973.9 cm and 60.573.0 kg for body height and body
mass, respectively. The average age of the subjects was
20.871.1 years old. After being informed of the purpose
and possible risks of this study, a written informed consent
was obtained from each subject. An approval from the
ethical review committee was also obtained for all
procedures.
2.2. Experimental set-up and measurements

Fig. 1. A schematic description of an interaction between the rotative

torque functioning around the center of the body mass (BM) and the
excessive burden on the leg muscles during level walking with load on the
back. (A) center of BM; (B) center of mass of load; (C) radius of rotation;
(D) rotation arc; (E) excessive burden on the leg muscles; (F) rotative
torque functioning around the center of BM.

(Falola et al., 2000). With reference to the ergonomic

implications, considerations of ES seems to be signicant
for an establishment of workers safety and for a reduction
of workers physical stress, however, as far as we know, no
information has been available with respect to the
alteration of the ES between level and gradient walking
with load. It was interesting to note that the ES was
signicantly decreased if the load was carried on the back
on a at terrain (Falola et al., 2000), but was not decreased
in another study (Bastien et al., 2005b). In a previous study
the energy cost of walking reached minimum at a 10%

All exercise tests were performed on a motor-driven

treadmill (Biomill BL-1000, S & ME, Tokyo). To become
accustomed to the treadmill walking wearing a gas
collection mask (AMA-102, Minato Medical Science Co.
Ltd., Osaka) with and without load, each subject
performed at least two preliminary trials on the same
treadmill at several speeds. The walking speeds were set at
30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 m/min, meaning
that the employed walking speeds covered with those of the
previous studies (Abe et al., 2004). As suggested by Minetti
et al. (1993), the mechanical work done by the leg muscles
consisted of both positive and negative muscular work up
to a 15% gradient, however, the Cw expressed per unit of
vertical distance seemed to be non-linear in the 515%
gradient zone. It was assumed that either the positive or
negative work was no longer functional at more than
710% gradient. Thus, the treadmill gradient was set at 0%
(level), +5% (uphill) and 5% (downhill) due to a
consideration of the practical application for daily
activities in this study.
In all conditions, each subject walked on the treadmill
for 5-min with a freely chosen step frequency at each
walking speed with and without load. The subjects wore
underwear, shirts, socks, gym shorts and lightweight
training shoes. The measurements were performed once a
day on each subject. The load consisted of a sand bag on a

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D. Abe et al. / Applied Ergonomics 39 (2008) 144149

lightweight aluminum frame (Carry Bone BB-003, Evernew, Tokyo) with an elastic belt located around the waist.
The net weight of the aluminum frame was 2.0 kg. The
total weight of the load was set at 15% of each subjects
body mass. The sand bag was placed on the upper part of
the frame (Fig. 1).
Breath-by-breath oxygen consumption (V O2 ; ml/kg/
min) was measured with a gas analyzer (AE-300S, Minato
Medical Science Co. Ltd., Osaka), which was calibrated
before each measurement with room air and reference
gases of known concentrations. A single sample with an
average nal 2-min V O2 value at each speed was calculated
to obtain the values of energy cost of walking per unit
distance (Cw; ml/BM+Load/m). The Cw was determined
from the ratio of the steady-state V O2 to the walking speed
(v; m/min):
C w V O2 =v.
The relationship between walking speed and Cw can be
approximated with a U-shaped quadratic equation (Abe et
al., 2004; Zamparo et al., 1992). Thus, it was apparent that
there existed a specic walking speed corresponding to the
minimum energy cost per unit distance. The relationship
between v and Cw can be mathematically described as the
following equation:
C w v av2 bv c,

(1)

where a, b and c are the constants of each equation

determined by the least squares with the actually observed
Cw values at each walking speed. A differential equation of
the original quadratic equation of each experimental
condition could be described as follows:
C 0w v 2av b.

(2)

Fig. 2. Energy cost of walking (Cw) as a function of walking speed.

Statistically signicant results are summarized in Table 1. Values are mean
and standard deviation of error.

condition was found for Cw values at 40, 50 and 60 m/min.

A non-signicant interaction effect between load and
gradient condition was found for Cw values at 30 m/min
only. A post-hoc test revealed that the Cw values were
signicantly lower when the load was carried on the
back only at slower walking speeds during level walking
(Table 1, Fig. 2). Such a trend was also found at 70 m/min
(p 0.084), but it was not signicant.

The ES was then determined at the speed when C 0w (v)

equals zero. That is, the ES could be observed as follows:

3.2. Effects of load and gradient on ES

ES b=2a.

The ESs without load were 82.172.7, 78.373.8 and

84.772.9 m/min for level, uphill and downhill walking,
respectively. The ESs with load were 78.372.6, 75.174.7
and 83.773.0 m/min for level, uphill and downhill walking,
respectively. Non-signicant interaction effect between
load and gradient was observed in a multiple comparison
of the ES (F 3.19, p40.05). A post hoc test also revealed
that signicant differences were observed between load and
no load conditions in each gradient. Signicant gradient
differences were also observed in the load and no load
conditions (po0.05, Fig. 3).

(3)

2.3. Statistical analysis

A 2  3 repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with two within-subject effects was used to test for the
main effects of load (two levels) and gradient (three levels)
condition on the dependent variables. A Ryans multiple
comparison as a post-hoc test was applied to the
appropriate data set to establish the signicant mean
differences (Hsu, 1996). The statistical signicance was
established at the 0.05 probability level.

4. Discussion

3. Results

4.1. Effects of load carriage on Cw

3.1. Effects of load and gradient on Cw

This study was particularly characterized by the fact that

a similar phenomenon to the free-ride could be observed
during level walking at slower speeds only, but not during
gradient walking (Fig. 2 and Table 1). That is, our rst
hypothesis was rejected.

Fig. 2 shows a quadratic relationship between the

walking speed and Cw values obtained on each terrain. A
signicant interaction effect between load and gradient

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Table 1
Summary of statistically signicant results
Speed (m/min)

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

Cw
Level
Uphill
Downhill

*#

*#

*#

* means a signicant difference between load and no load conditions;

means a non-signicant difference between load and no load conditions; #
means a signicant interaction effect between load and gradient.

Fig. 3. Comparisons of economical walking speed (ES). Signicant

differences between load and no load conditions were observed in each
gradient. Signicant gradient differences were also observed in both
conditions. Values are mean and standard deviation.

Little information has been available with respect to a

similar phenomenon to the free-ride during gradient
walking. The energy-saving mechanism during level walking has been mainly explained by the transfer efciency
between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy
(Cavagna et al., 1963; Saibene, 1990; Saibene and Minetti,
2003). It was interesting to note that the results of the
present study showed the ergonomic effects of load were
not substantially identical to the energy expenditure during
walking obtained from each gradient (Table 1, Fig. 2).
In fact, the fascicles and tendon of gastrocnemius
medialis were fully stretched during walking even at slower
walking speeds (Fukunaga et al., 2001). The recoiled elastic
energy was absolutely released during push-off, even
though there was very little change in the function of the
muscle fascicles at different gradients or speeds (Lichtwark
and Wilson, 2006), despite an existence of the differences in
the required external work. It is important to note that
those previous studies revealed a similar degree of the

147

released elastic energy contributed to the energetics of

walking regardless of the gradient. That is, those previous
studies could explain a potential mechanism of a fact that a
similar phenomenon to the free-ride was observed only at
slower walking speeds on a at terrain cannot be explained
by the utilization of the released elastic energy.
For the uphill walking, the positive work done by the leg
muscles could be much more dominant than that during
level walking (Minetti et al., 1993), suggesting that the
ergonomic benet derived from the rotative torque
functioning around the center of the body mass while
carrying loads could be canceled by the increased excessive
burden on the leg muscles during uphill walking. It is
assumed that such an imbalance between the positive and
negative effect on the energetics of walking would be more
apparent when the load was carried on the back. For
downhill walking, the negative work done by the leg
muscles could be more dominant during downhill walking
than level walking (Minetti et al., 2002), and it was
assumed that such a trend would be greater when the load
was carried on the back due to the assisted torque derived
from load carriage. The energy requirement for the positive
muscular work was about three-fold greater than that for
the negative muscular work (Aura and Komi, 1986),
suggesting that the Cw values obtained from downhill
walking with load were expected to be less than those
obtained from downhill walking without load. In fact, a
similar observation to our nding can be found during
pushing a wheelchair on the downhill gradient in nursing.
Brubaker et al. (1986) reported that a nurse needed to push
the wheelchair to go forward while braking against gravity
with his or her hands and legs. Judging from those
considerations, a similar phenomenon to the free-ride
could not be observed during gradient walking, but the
biomechanical and physiological mechanisms behind the
phenomenon would be different between uphill and
downhill walking.
4.2. Effects of load carriage on ES
In support of our second hypothesis, the ES was
signicantly lower when the load was carried on the back
(Fig. 3). The percent decrease in the ES during level and
uphill walking was about 4% in a comparison between
load and no load conditions, being consistent with a
previous study (Falola et al., 2000), while conicting with
another study (Bastien et al., 2005b). These conicting
results could be dependent on how ES is calculated. As
discussed by Bastien et al. (2005b), the constant c in the
Eq. (1) is the determining factor for the ES when
calculating based on the net V O2 The constant c reects
a y-intercept of the Cwv relationship, meaning a subject
standing on the treadmill. In contrast, the ES obtained in
this study was dependent only on the constants a and b
(Eqs. (2) and (3)). Here, the constant c seemed to be
independent of the ES. However, all constants are obtained
from least square regression analysis, indicating that the

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D. Abe et al. / Applied Ergonomics 39 (2008) 144149

constant c is affecting the determination of the constants

a and b. In other words, the constant c secondary
affected determining the ES. That is, the main factor to
determine the ES in our method is the constants a and/or
b with an association of the constant c, meaning that the
curvature of the U-shaped Cwv relationship determines
the ES.
In either case, it was worth noting that the variation of
the ES seemed to be small regardless of the gradient
variation if the ES was compared between load and no load
conditions. In particular, only 1.2% difference was
observed during downhill walking, suggesting that the
practical application of this observation would be directly
applied for military purposes and/or outdoor work
management, such as training for re ghters and
mountain rescues (Griefahn et al., 2003). There was no
information available with regard to the alteration of the
ES during gradient walking with load, thus, further
research will be necessary.
4.3. Practical application
Load carriage during walking is an inevitable part of
military life both during training and operations (Birrell et
al., 2007). In fact, infantry soldiers training has been
conducted by road march with load carriage (Attwells et
al., 2006; Christie and Scott, 2005; Johnson et al., 1995;
Quesada et al., 2000; Reynolds et al., 1999). However, a
variety of walking speeds were employed in those previous
studies regardless of the load weight and physical tness of
the soldiers. Our study employed load carriage corresponding to 15% of the body mass only, because the metabolic
demands during walking did not abruptly increase if the
load weight was less than 15% of the body mass (Charteris
et al., 1989a). It was also reported that the gait pattern
altered when the load weight was increased from 15% to
20% of the body mass (Hong and Cheung, 2003).
However, this load weight seemed to be acceptable during
long-distance military road marching in soldiers (Quesada
et al., 2000) as well as during level walking in normal
people including children (Abe et al., 2004; Hong and
Cheung, 2003). It is assumed that too much load weight
will result in a high risk of injuries during road march. The
present study showed an alteration of the ES by the load
carriage during level and gradient walking. Information
about the alteration of the ES by the load carriage will be
available for reducing early onset of fatigue in the
occupational and/or leisure tasks, contributing to a
reducing risk of injuries. Thus, an assessment of the ES
for each individual will be highly recommended when
walking with load.
5. Conclusion
A similar phenomenon to the free-ride could be observed
only when the load was carried on the back during level
walking at slower speeds. The ES was signicantly

decreased by less than 5% when the load was carried on

the back. Those results would be induced by different
mechanisms, but the information about the alteration of
the ES during gradient walking with load will be useful for
the outdoor work management.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Young
Scientist (B) from the Japan Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Grant no.
17770217 to D.A.) and in part by the Nakatomi Foundation (to D.A.).
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