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Mechanicsandenergeticsofloadcarriageduringhumanwalking|JournalofExperimentalBiology

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Mechanicsandenergeticsofloadcarriageduringhumanwalking
TzuweiP.Huang,ArthurD.Kuo
JournalofExperimentalBiology2014217:605613doi:10.1242/jeb.091587
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Abstract
Althoughhumansclearlyexpendmoreenergytowalkwithanextraload,itisunclearwhatbiomechanical
mechanismscontributetothatincrease.Onepossiblecontributionisthemechanicalworkperformedonthe
bodycenterofmass(COM),whichsimplemodelspredictshouldincreaselinearlywithaddedmass.Thework
shouldbeperformedprimarilybythelowerextremityjoints,althoughinunknowndistribution,andcosta
proportionateamountofmetabolicenergy.Wethereforetestednormaladults(N=8)walkingatconstantspeed
(1.25ms1)withvaryingbackpackloadsupto40%ofbodyweight.Wemeasuredmechanicalwork(both
performedontheCOMandjointworkfrominversedynamics),aswellasmetabolicenergyexpenditure
throughrespirometry.Bothmeasuresofworkwerefoundtoincreaseapproximatelylinearlywithcarriedload,
withCOMworkrateincreasingbyapproximately1.40Wforeach1kgofadditionalload.Thejointsall
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contributedwork,butthegreatestincreaseinpositiveworkwasattributabletotheankleduringpushoff(45
60%ofstridetime)andthekneeinthereboundaftercollision(1230%stride).Thehipperformedincreasing
amountsofnegativework,neartheendofstance.Rateofmetabolicenergyexpenditurealsoincreased
approximatelylinearlywithload,byapproximately7.6Wforeach1kgofadditionalload.Theratioofthe
increasesinworkandmetaboliccostyieldedarelativelyconstantefficiencyofapproximately16%.The
metaboliccostnotexplainedbyworkappearedtoberelativelyconstantwithloadanddidnotexhibita
particulartrend.Mostoftheincreasingcostforcarryingaloadappearstobeexplainedbypositivemechanical
work,especiallyabouttheankleandknee,withbothworkandmetaboliccostincreasingnearlylinearlywith
addedmass.
SkiptoPreviousSectionSkiptoNextSection

INTRODUCTION
Humansexpendconsiderablymoreefforttowalkwhencarryingabackpackload.Metabolicenergyexpenditure
increasessharplywiththeloadcarried,andcaneasilydoubleforamoderateload(GoldmanandIampietro,
1962Souleetal.,1978).Gaitkinematicsdonotchangenearlyasmuch(GhoriandLuckwill,1985Tilbury
DavisandHooper,1999),suggestingthattheenergeticcostappearslessduetoanalteredgaitpatternthanto
theeffortoftransportingtheloaditself.Indeed,theforcesandjointmomentsofwalkingdoincreasemarkedly
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withload,asdoestheelectromyographicactivityofmusclesinthelowerlimbsandtrunk(GhoriandLuckwill,
1985Knapiketal.,1996).However,itremainsdifficulttopredicthowbiomechanicalvariablesshouldincrease
withload,andhowtheymightmechanisticallycontributetogreatermetabolicenergyexpenditure.This
underscorestheneedforamechanisticexplanationforthemetaboliccostofwalkingasafunctionofload.
Amajorcontributortometaboliccostistheactivemechanicalworkperformedbymuscles.Physicalprinciples
dictatethatactiveworkmustcostenergymusclesperformworkwithanempiricallyobservedefficiency
(definedasworkdividedbyenergeticcost)of25%orless,asobservedinavarietyofhumanexperimentsand
isolatedmusclepreparations(Margaria,1976).Negativeworkalsocostspositiveenergy,althoughatlowercost,
withanefficiencyofapproximately120%.Duringwalking,workisperformedonthebodycenterofmass
(COM)andtomovebodysegmentsrelativetotheCOM(CavagnaandKaneko,1977).Theformerappears
dominatedbyworkneededtoredirecttheCOMbetweensuccessivestancephases(Donelanetal.,2002a
Donelanetal.,2002b).ThisisbecausetheCOMmovesatopastancelegthatbehavesapproximatelylikea
pendulum(Fig.1),andhenceitsvelocitymustberedirectedfromonependulumlikearctothenext.A
backpackloadwouldbeexpectedtoaddproportionatelytotheworkneededtoredirecttheCOM,andtoadd
littletoworkperformedformotionsrelativetotheCOM.Indeed,measurementsofworkperformedonthe
COMdoappeartoincreasewithload(Grenieretal.,2012Griffinetal.,2003).Muchofthatworkisperformed
simultaneouslyaspositiveworkbythetrailinglegandnegativeworkbytheleadingleg,andcouldaccountfor
muchofthemetaboliccostofwalking(Donelanetal.,2002b).
TherearealsometaboliccostsotherthanformovingtheCOM.Oneexampleisacostformovingthelegsback
andforthrelativetothebody.Thatcostmaybeassociatedmorewithactivatingmusclethanwithperforming
work(DokeandKuo,2007Dokeetal.,2005).Itwouldbeexpectedtocontributetowalkingenergetics,butnot
toincreasewithabackpackload.Energyalsoappearstobeexpendedtomakesmalladjustmentsinfoot
placementfromsteptostep,forbalancecontrol(O'Connoretal.,2012).Anotherpossiblecostisforsupporting
bodyweight,originallyproposedbyTayloretal.(Tayloretal.,1980)forrunninggaits,butalsoappliedto
walkingbyGriffinetal.(Griffinetal.,2003).Suchacostshouldincreasewithcarriedload,presumablyinan
amountseparablefromwork.Theseandotherenergeticcontributionsare,unfortunately,farlessstraightforward
toidentifyempirically.Perhapsanindicationoftheirmagnitudecanbeformedindirectly,fromthemetabolic
costchangesthatoccurindependentlyofworkontheCOM.
Thesemetabolicenergeticcostcontributionsmaybeestimatedincomparisonwithmechanicalwork,which
mustthereforebequantifiedforwalking.OneempiricalmeasureistheworkperformedontheCOMbyeach
limb(termedCOMworkhere),definedastheintegralofthevectordotproductofthelimb'sgroundreaction
forceagainsttheCOMvelocity.Althoughitisarelativelysimplemeasure,itcanquantifythesubstantialwork
performedbythelimbsagainsteachotherduringdoublesupport(Donelanetal.,2002a),andasafunctionof
loadcarriage(Grenieretal.,2012Griffinetal.,2003).Itdoesnot,however,revealwhichjointsperformthat
work.Thatinformationisbetterrevealedthroughthe
Listofsymbolsandabbreviations
c,c
empiricalcoefficientofproportionalityforworkandmetabolicrate
COM
centerofmass
d,d
constantrepresentingworkormetabolicrateindependentofload
netmetabolicrate
constantrepresentingmetabolicenergyexpenditurerateindependentofwork
groundreactionforce
g
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gravitationalacceleration
L
leglength
M
bodymass
Mload
addedmass(load+backpack)
PCOM
instantaneouscenterofmassworkrate
centerofmassvelocity
,
centerofmassworkperstride,positiveandnegative
,
averagecenterofmassworkrate,positiveandnegative
,
sumofjointworkperstride
,
anklejointworkperstride
,
hipjointworkperstride
,
kneejointworkperstride

empiricaldeltaefficiency
inversedynamicstechnique,whichestimatestheresultantmechanicalpowerfromeachjoint(jointwork).But
neitherinversedynamicsnorCOMworkcandeterminetheactualworkbymuscles,norcantheyisolatework
performedbytendons(Alexander,1991)andothersofttissues(ZelikandKuo,2010),whichcancontribute
passivelywithlittledirectmetabolicenergycost.Somesuchcontributionscanbequantifiedthroughimaging
techniquessuchasultrasound,particularlyfortheankle(Fukunagaetal.,2001),butnotasreadilyfortheother
joints.WeconsiderCOMworkandjointworktobepracticallyuseful,ifimperfect,measuresoftheworkof
walking.However,theyhavenotpreviouslybeenquantifiedtogethertohelpexplainthemetaboliccostofload
carriage.
Thecomplementaryfeaturesofdifferentworkmeasuresmightrevealinsightregardingloadcarriageduring
walking.AnadvantageofCOMworkisthatitbearsastraightforwardlinktoasimplehypothesis,thatCOM
workshouldincreaselinearlywithcarriedload.Jointworkcanthenindicatewhereinthelegtheworkis
performed,anditsdifferencewithCOMworkcanindicateworkformovementsrelativetotheCOM.Ifa
carriedloadmainlyaffectsCOMwork,thenmetaboliccostwouldbeexpectedtoincreaseproportionately,with
anadditionaloffsettermthatisconstantrelativetoload.Thatoffsettermmayindicatethemetaboliccostfor
theworkperformedrelativetotheCOM,aswellasothermetaboliccostsnotrelatedtowork.Wetherefore
hypothesizethattherewouldbealinearincreaseinCOMworkandmetaboliccostasafunctionofcarriedload.
Furthermore,thoseincreasesimplyalineardependencebetweenworkandmetabolicenergyexpenditure.The
presentstudyisintendedtotestforsuchrelationshipsbetweenthemechanicsandenergeticsofwalkingwitha
backpackload.
SkiptoPreviousSectionSkiptoNextSection

RESULTS
Walkingwithabackpackloadcausedanumberofenergeticandbiomechanicaleffects.Asexpected,subjects
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expendedmoremetabolicenergywhencarryingheavierloads,withanapproximatelylinearincreaseinnet
metabolicratewithload.Biomechanicaleffectsmostnotablyincludedincreasedmechanicalwork,intermsof
bothCOMworkandjointwork.Workrateincreasedapproximatelylinearlywithload,similartonetmetabolic
rate.Asaresult,netmetabolicrateandworkratealsoincreasedinapproximatelylinearproportiontoeach
other.Thespecificsoftheseresults,aswellasotherassociatedfindings,arepresentedbelowandarealso
quantifiedinTable1.

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Fig.1.
Mechanicalworktoredirectthecenterofmassduringwalking.Thebodycenterofmass(COM)moves
atoppendulumlikelegs,sothatmotionduringsinglesupportrequiresrelativelylittlework.TheCOMmovesin
anarc,anditsvelocity( EmbeddedImage )mustberedirectedfromadownwardandforwarddirectiontoan
upwardandforwarddirectionwhentransitioningfromonestancelegtothenext.Eachlegproducesaground
reactionforce(largelydirectedalongtheleg)toeffectthistransition,andconsequentlyperformsworkonthe
COM.Theadditionofanextraload(Mload)increasesthetotalmass(Mtotal)thatmustberedirected,witha
proportionalincreaseinwork.Thatworkishypothesizedtorequireadditionalmetabolicenergyexpenditure.M,
bodymass.
Toserveasabaselineforcomparisons,normalwalkingconditionvalueswereasfollows.Atthefixedwalking
speedof1.25ms1,subjectswalkedwithaveragesteplengthof0.662m,stepwidthof0.142m,steptimeof
0.532sanddoublesupporttimeof0.179s.AveragepositiveCOMworkperstridewas23.6J,andpositive
summedjointworkperstridewas48.8J.Grossmetabolicratewasapproximately344W,andnetmetabolic
ratewas232W.Thenetmetaboliccostoftransport,definedasmetabolicratedividedbywalkingspeed(allin
dimensionlessunits),was2.57.
Loadhadlittleeffectonmoststepparameters(Fig.2).Therewerenosignificantchangesinsteplength,width
(Fig.2A)orduration(Fig.2B)withcarriedload.However,stepwidthvariabilitydidincreasesignificantly
(P=0.01Fig.2D)andapproximatelylinearlywithtotalmass,byapproximately50%overtherangeofloads
studied.Steplengthvariabilitydidnotchangesignificantly(P=0.06Fig.2C).Althoughtherewasno
significantchangeinstepduration,thedurationofdoublesupportdidincreaseslightly,byapproximately30%.
Asafractionofstepperiod,doublesupporttimesincreasedfromapproximately29%to38%.
Intermsofmechanics,thereareseveralqualitativeobservationstobemaderegardingtheforceandpower
trajectories(Fig.3).Theamplitudesofverticalandhorizontalgroundreactionforcesincreasedwithload(Fig.
3A,B),mostnotablyinthetwopeaksoftheverticalforce.AsimilartrendmaybeobservedfromtheCOM
workratetrajectories(Fig.3C).Amplitudesappearedtoincreasewithloadforeachofthefourphasesof
positiveornegativeCOMwork:collision,rebound,preloadandpushoff.Thateffectismirroredbythe
summedjointpowertrajectories(Fig.3D),whichbehavedroughlysimilarlywithincreasingload.Examining
thejointsindividually(Fig.4),thereappearedtobelittlechangeinjointangletrajectorieswithload.The
amplitudesofjointmomentsandpowersdidincreasewithload.
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Table1.
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Quantitativeresultsforwalkingwithabackpackload
Wenextexaminehowworkandmetabolicenergyexpenditureratesincreasewithload(Fig.5).Therateof
positiveworkperformedontheCOM( EmbeddedImage )increasedapproximatelylinearlywithtotalmass,and
nearlydoubledacrosstherangeofloadsstudied.Subjectsperformedapproximately1.40Wofadditional
positivemechanicalworkrateforeachadditional1kgcarriedbybackpack(Fig.5A).Theyalsoexpended
approximately7.62Wofadditionalmetabolicpowerforeachadditional1kgcarriedbybackpack,atthe
designatedspeedof1.25ms1(Fig.5B).Netmetabolicpowernearlydoubledacrosstheloadstested.To
illustratetheeffectofthenormalizationprocedure,whichwasintendedtoreducescattercausedbydifferences
insubjectbodymassandleglength,resultsarepresentedintermsofabsolutephysicalunitsofpower(W)
versusmass(kg),aswellasusingdimensionlessvariables(Fig.5Cand5D,respectively).Thelinearfitsfor
bothworkandmetaboliccostalsoyieldresiduals(Fig.5C,D),whichdidnotobviouslyrevealanyadditional
trends.

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Fig.2.
Stepparametersforwalkingwithabackpackload.(A)Averagesteplengthandwidthasafunctionofload,
asafractionofunloadedbodyweight(N=8).(B)Averagestepperiodanddoublesupportdurationasafunction
ofload.(C)Steplengthand(D)stepwidthvariabilityasafunctionofload,wherevariabilityisdefinedasroot
meansquare(RMS)deviationsfromaveragesteps.Solidlinesrepresentsignificantlineartrendswithadded
mass(P<0.05).Ofthestepparametersshown,onlydoublesupportandstepwidthvariabilityexhibited
significanttrends,bothincreasingwithload.Opensymbolsrepresentnormalunloadedwalking(witherrorbars
fors.d.).Lefthandverticalaxesshowdimensionlessquantities,usingbodymass(M),leglength(L)and
gravitationalacceleration(g)asbaseunits.RighthandverticalaxesshowdimensionalSIunits.

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Fig.3.
Forceandpowermeasuresasafunctionofstridetime,fordifferentloads.(A)Verticalgroundreaction
forceand(B)horizontal(foreaft)groundreactionforceversuspercentstridetime.Fwd,forward.(C)
InstantaneousCOMpower,PCOM,versustime,definedasdotproductofCOMvelocitywithgroundreaction
forcefromoneleg.CO,collisionRB,reboundPL,preloadPO,pushoff.(D)Summedjointpowerversus
time,definedassumofpowersfromankle,kneeandhipfromoneleg.Lefthandverticalaxesshow
dimensionlessquantities,righthandverticalaxesshowdimensionalSIunits.Datashownaretrajectories
averagedacrosssubjects(N=8).
Theworktrendsmaybeexaminedmorecloselyonaperstridebasis.TheworkperformedontheCOM,and
fromthesummedjoints,bothincreasedapproximatelylinearlywithload(Fig.6A).Theslopesofthese
increaseswerenotsignificantlydifferent(COMworkperstrideincreased0.760.12Jper1kgofload,and
jointworkby0.960.48JP=0.77,ANCOVA).TheamountofpositiveCOMworkwasclosetothenegative
COMwork,indicatingzeronetmechanicalworkforsteadystatewalking,butthesumofnegativejointwork
wasmuchlessthanthesumofpositivework,implyingthatthesofttissueworkalsoincreasedwithload(Zelik
andKuo,2012).Examiningtheindividualjoints(Fig.6B),theygenerallyperformedpositiveworkincreasing
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approximatelylinearlywithload.Workisnormallyperformedbytheankle,hipandknee,indecreasingorderof
contributions.Withcarriedloads,however,thegreatestincreaseswereattheankle,kneeand(withmarginal
significance)hip,indecreasingorder.Thejointsalsonormallyperformnegativeworkattheknee,ankleandhip
(indecreasingorderofmagnitudes).Withload,thesemagnitudesincreasedatthehipandankle,withno
significanteffectattheknee.
Workandmetabolicenergyexpendituremayalsobecomparedagainsteachother(Fig.7).Atotalleastsquares
fitbetweenCOMworkrateandmetabolicrateyieldsaslopeof6.3940.246(95%CI)andanoffsetof
0.0510.008(seeEqn4).Theinverseoftheslopeyieldsanefficiency,,of0.1560.006forCOMwork.A
similarcalculationwithsummedjointpoweryieldsanefficiencyof0.1630.059forsummedjointwork.
SkiptoPreviousSectionSkiptoNextSection

DISCUSSION
Thisexperimentwasintendedtotestwhetheracarriedloadproportionallyincreasestheworkperformedonthe
COM,andwhetherthatworkleadstoaproportionalincreaseinmetabolicenergyexpenditure.Wehad
hypothesizedthatabackpackloadmainlyaffectstheinertiaoftheCOM,whichmustberedirectedinthe
transitionbetweenpendulumlikesteps.Theloadshouldalsohavelittleeffectontheworkperformedfor
motionsrelativetotheCOM,andonothermetabolicenergeticcostsnotrelatedtowork.Ourresultsyielded
threemainlinearproportionalitiesbetweenload,mechanicalworkandmetabolicenergyexpenditure.Wenext
considerhowwelltheresultsagreedwiththeseexpectations,andexaminethecomplementarymeasuresofjoint
work,whichmayindicatehowthebodyperformsthegreaterworkload.
Backpackloadingresultedinapproximatelyproportionateincreasesinmechanicalwork(Fig.6).Alinearfit
suggeststhattheincreasedCOMworkislargelyexplainedbytheaddedmass.Thisisbecauseredirectionofthe
COMisdeterminedmainlybymass,walkingspeedandsteplength(AdamczykandKuo,2009).Here,only
masswasvaried(astheindependentlycontrolledvariable)andspeedwaskeptfixed.Subjectstendedto
maintainnearlythesamestepparameters(Fig.2)andjointkinematics(Fig.4),leavinglittleopportunityto
changehowtheCOMwasredirected.ThismeansthatCOMworkismainlydeterminedbyhowmuchmassis
redirected,aspredictedbyEqn2(seeMaterialsandmethods).Anapproximatelylinearincreasewasalso
observedinthepositivesummedjointwork( EmbeddedImage ).Thisislargelyasexpected,becauseCOM
workmustlargelyresultfromactionsatthejoints.Inaddition,thejointsalsoperformworktomovethelimbs
relativetotheCOM,asindicatedbythedifferencebetweensummedjointworkandCOMwork(Fig.6
approximately38%ofsummedjointwork).Whilemostofthejointworkmaybeattributabletomovingthe
COM,asmalleramountofworkisalsoperformedtomovebodysegmentsrelativetotheCOM.

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Fig.4.
Jointkinematicsandkineticsversusstridetimeforwalkingwithdifferentloads.Angle,momentand
powertrajectoriesareshownforankle,kneeandhipjoints.Lefthandverticalaxesshowdimensionless
quantitiesrighthandverticalaxesshowdimensionalSIunits.Datashownaretrajectoriesaveragedacross
subjects(N=8).Positiveanglesandmomentsaredefinedinextension(Ext)asopposedtoflexion(Flx).
Theindividualjointpowersrevealmoredetailaboutthedistributionofwork(Fig.4).Wehadnopredictionfor
theapportionmentbetweenjoints,butmuchoftheincreasewithloadappearedtooccurattheankleduring
pushoff,whichproducesthelargestproportionofthepositiveworkinbothunloadedandloadedwalking.The
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kneealsoperformedincreasingpositivework,mostlyduringrebound(Fig.4,kneepower).Incontrast,thehip
onlyperformedmarginallymoreworkwithmass.Asfornegativework,itsmagnitudealsoincreased,primarily
atthehip,andmostlyneartheendofswingphase.Thismightaidthefasterswingthatoccurredwithincreasing
doublesupporttimeandrelativelyconstantstridetime(BirrellandHaslam,2009MartinandNelson,1986).
ThesevariouschangesinjointworkaccountedforthelargelyparallelchangesinsummedjointworkandCOM
workwithload.
Closerexaminationofjointworkalsorevealspossiblerolesoftendonsandothersofttissues.Tendonsare
highlyelastic,asexhibitedbyconsiderablepassiveenergyreturnattheankleduringwalking(Fukunagaetal.,
2001).Here,increasingmassledtogreateramplitudeinthesequenceofanklepreloadandpushoff,where
negativeandthenpositiveworkisperformed.Similarly,theamplitudeofnegativecollisionworkoftheknee
wasapparentlyaccompaniedbygreaterpositivereboundwork(Fig.4,kneepower).Bothsequencesmay
benefitfromelasticenergyreturn,asisimpliedbyourterminology(Donelanetal.,2002bKuoetal.,2005).
Indeed,theincreaseindoublesupportduration(Fig.2D)isconsistentwithaspringmasssystem,whose
naturalfrequencydecreaseswithgreatermass.TheamplitudeofbothCOMandjointpowersalsoincreasewith
mass(Fig.3B,D),alsoconsistentwithadrivenmassspringoscillation,aspreviouslyproposedbyHoltetal.
(Holtetal.,2003).Asidefromtendonelasticity,othersofttissuessuchasthevisceraandheelpadcanactas
passive,dampedelasticelements.Theycanthusperformworknotcapturedbyinversedynamics(Zelikand
Kuo,2010ZelikandKuo,2012).Here,thenegativesummedjointworkwasconsiderablylesserinmagnitude
thanthecorrespondingpositivework,rangingfromapproximately57to61%ofpositiveworkfortheloads
examined.Thissuggeststhatsomenegativeworkwasperformedbysofttissuedeformation(DeVitaetal.,
2007ZelikandKuo,2010)andwasnotcapturedbyjointwork,becausethebodymustperformequalamounts
ofpositiveandnegativeworktowalkatsteadyspeed.Theseresultssuggestthepossibilityofelasticand
dampedelasticenergyreturnduringwalkingwithloadcarriage.
Wealsoobservedanapproximatelylinearincreaseinnetmetabolicratewithload(Fig.5D),expectedfromEqn
3(seeMaterialsandmethods).Thecostmaybedescribedbytheincreaseinnetmetabolicrateperextraloadas
afractionofbodyweight(cinEqn3),withavalueofapproximately0.25,whichexceedsthecorresponding
valueof0.11fornetmetabolicrateofnormalunloadedwalking(or0.16forgrossrateTable1).These
measuressuggestthathumansexpendrelativelymoreenergytocarryabackpackloadthantocarryan
equivalentamountoftheirownbodymass.Themetaboliccostisalsoconsistentwiththeapproximatelylinear
increaseobservedformechanicalwork(Fig.5B),assumingaconstantefficiency.Theobserveddeltaefficiency
(Eqn4)wasapproximately15.6%forpositiveCOMwork,andapproximately16.3%forpositivesummed
jointwork.Thesearesomewhatlowerthanthetypical25%efficiencyforpositiveworkbymuscle[or21%if
thecostofnegativeworkisalsoincluded(Donelanetal.,2002b)].Bothworkmeasuresmaytendto
underestimateactualmusclework,becauseofpositiveworkatonemusclethatinadvertentlycancelsnegative
workbyanother,eventhoughbothmayexactametaboliccost.Thismayoccurintheformofcocontraction
aboutasinglejoint,orascancellationacrossmultiplejoints.Motioncapturebasedmeasuresofmechanical
workcannotgenerallyresolvesucheffects,norcantheyeasilyquantifypassiveworkbyelastictendons.We
neverthelessprefersimplemeasuressuchasCOMwork,becauseitstrendscanbepredictedfromsimple
models,whereasthosefortheindividualjointpowersarefarmorechallengingtopredictfromfirstprinciples.
Asacomplementarymeasure,summedjointpowerisalsorelativelysimpleandhelpstoindicatework
performedforbodymotionsrelativetotheCOM(ZelikandKuo,2010).

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Fig.5.
Mechanicalworkandmetabolicenergycostasafunctionofload,withandwithoutnormalization.(A)
Rateofpositivework, EmbeddedImage ,performedontheCOMand(B)netmetabolicrate, EmbeddedImage
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,versusaddedload,bothinunnormalizedform.Eachsubject'sdataaredenotedbyaseparatecoloropen
symbolsdenotenormal,unloadedwalking.(C)Normalizedmechanicalworkrateand(D)netmetabolicrate
versusload,alongwithresidualsaftersubtractingthelineartrendfromdata.Statisticallysignificantlinear
trendswereobservedforbothworkandmetabolicdata(P=7E12and3E9,respectively).Normalization
procedureincludesnondimensionalization,usingbodymass(M),leglength(L)andgravitationalacceleration
(g)asbaseunits.Inaddition,aseparateyinterceptwasdeterminedforeachsubject'slineartrend,reducing
variabilityduetodifferingconstantoffsets.Netmetabolicrateisdefinedasgrossrateminustherateforquiet
standing.
Anumberoffactorsasidefromworkareexpectedtocontributetometabolicenergyexpenditure.Walkingalso
requiresmaintenanceofbalanceandmotionofthearmsandlegsrelativetothebody,amongotherfeatures.Itis
possiblethatloadcarriageplacesincreasingdemandsonbalance,asperhapsindicatedbyincreasingstepwidth
variability(Fig.3).Suchvariabilityisthoughttocontributetoenergyexpenditure(O'Connoretal.,2012),but
inquiteasmallamountrelativetothelargeincreasesobservedhere.Theseandothercostsappeartocontribute
quitesubstantiallytotheoverallcostofwalking,butrelativelylittletothechangeinenergyexpendedwith
increasingbackpackload.
Ourresultsmaybecomparedwiththoseofotherpublishedstudies.Othershavereportedrelativelysubtle
changesinstepparametersandkinematicswithmoderateloads(Harmanetal.,2000MartinandNelson,1986),
whichappearedtooccurhereaswell.Therearefewotherstudiesquantifyingjointworkasafunctionofload
[e.g.peakpowerquantifiedbyChowetal.(Chowetal.,2005)],buttheresultsforunloadedwalkingappear
consistentwiththeliterature(Winter,2005ZelikandKuo,2010).AsforCOMwork,ourmeasure(
EmbeddedImage )isequivalenttotheindividuallimbexternalworkofGriffinetal.(Griffinetal.,2003)and
tothetotalworkofGrenieretal.(Grenieretal.,2012),whichsumstheexternalworkforcombinedlimbs
withtheinternalworkduringdoublecontact.(Thereareinconsistentdefinitionsimpliedforexternaland
internalwithintheliterature,andsowepreferthetermCOMwork.)Accountingforthedifferentapplied
walkingspeeds,ourworkresultsarelargelyconsistentwiththosestudies.

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Fig.6.
Mechanicalworkasafunctionofloadmass.(A)AveragepositiveCOMwork, EmbeddedImage ,and
summedjointworkperstride, EmbeddedImage (labeledC+ andJ+ ,respectively),alongwithnegativework(C
andJ ).(B)Positiveworkbyankle,kneeandhipjoints(A+ ,K+ andH+ ,respectivelynegativeworkalso

shown),comparedwithsummedjointworkperstride(J+ ).Lineartrends(denotedbylines,N=8)werefitto
eachmeasure,andwerestatisticallysignificant(P<0.05)inallcasesexceptfornegativekneeworkandpositive
hipwork.Opensymbolsrepresentnormalunloadedwalking(witherrorbarsfors.d.).Lefthandverticalaxes
showdimensionlessquantitiesrighthandverticalaxesshowdimensionalSIunits.

Downloadfigure
Openinnewtab
Downloadpowerpoint
Fig.7.
NetmetabolicrateversuspositiveCOMworkrateforwalkingwithvaryingamountsofbackpackload.
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Alsoshownareresidualsaftersubtractingalineartrendfit(solidlinetotalleastsquaresfitappliedtoloaddata
only).Asignificanttrendwasfoundwithslope6.3940.246(95%CI)andoffset0.0510.008(s.d.).
Reciprocalofslopeyields=0.1560.006,meaningadeltaefficiencyofpositiveworkofapproximately16%.
Noobvioustrendwasobservedintheresiduals.Lefthandverticalaxesshowdimensionlessquantities,right
handverticalaxesshowdimensionalSIunits,andsimilarlyforbottomandtopaxes.Datapointsforindividual
subjectsaredistinguishedbycolor.
Ourmetabolicenergyresultsarealsocomparabletotheliterature.Anumberofpreviousstudieshavereported
approximatelylinearincreaseswithmass(Griffinetal.,2003Pierrynowsietal.,1981Souleetal.,1978).For
anextraloadof30%ofbodymass,weobservedtheequivalentofapproximately40%increasedgross
metaboliccost,similartopreviousreports(Pierrynowsietal.,1981Quesadaetal.,2000).Itmustbenotedthat
somestudieshavereportedsomewhatlowermetaboliccosts,forexample2035%byGriffinetal.(Griffinet
al.,2003)dependingonspeed,andapproximately25%byGrenieretal.(Grenieretal.,2012).Studiesoften
differinthemeansofloadattachment,whichincludedawaistbelt(Griffinetal.,2003)andmilitaryload
attachment(Grenieretal.,2012),whichcouldaffectmetaboliccosts.Oursubjectswerealsorelatively
unpracticedwiththebackpack,whereasothers(e.g.Grenieretal.,2012Polcynetal.,2002)haveexamined
practicedinfantrymen,whomaybebetteradaptedtocarryingabackpack.Despitetheseandotherdifferences,
moststudiesappeartoagreeonanapproximatelyproportionatemetaboliccostincreasewithaddedmass,ifnot
theactualvalueofthatproportionality.
Ourresultsalsoledtoslightlydifferentconclusionsfromsomeotherstudies.Griffinetal.(Griffinetal.,2003)
foundthatlocomotorefficiency,definedasCOMworkratedividedbynetmetabolicrate,variedwithloadand
speedbetweenapproximately16and28%.Thatnonconstancyledthemtoconcludethatworkcannotexplain
themetaboliccostofloadcarriage,infavorofametaboliccostofgeneratingforcetosupportbodyweight.We
suspectthatthevariationinefficiencyresultsfromnonzerooffsetspresentinworkandenergydata.Nonzero
offsetsariseforavarietyofreasons,includingthesomewhatarbitrarydesignationofquietstandingasthe
baselinefornetmetabolicrate.Ourpreferenceistoignoretheoffsetsandconcentrateonthechangesinenergy
andwork(Fig.7)usingdeltaefficiency,whichdoappeartobequiteconsistent,andcanexplainmetabolic
energyexpenditureintermsofwork.Althoughwecannoteliminateothercostsforloadcarriage,theymustbe
independentofload,contributetotheconstantoffsetorthe(rathersmall)residual(Fig.7),orbecorrelatesof
workthatarethereforedifficulttoseparatefromwork.Regardingtheresidual,wehaveobservedsubstantial
residualsforothertaskssuchasbouncingabouttheanklesthatwebelievetobecostlyandunrelatedtowork
(DeanandKuo,2011).Yettherewasnoobvioustrendintheresidualsfoundhere.Furthermore,reexamination
ofdatafromGriffinetal.(Griffinetal.,2003)yieldsafairlyconstantdeltaefficiency(ofapproximately27%,
withR2=0.96forafitthroughmeansacrosssubjectsfor16combinationsofspeedandload),andasimilar
offsettowhatweobserved( EmbeddedImage of0.010versus0.008).Forourdata,wecanalsoforma
conservativeestimateoftheminimumcostofwork,byassumingthatthepositiveworkmeasuredherewasnot
anunderestimate,andthatnegativeworkhasnoenergeticcost.Applyinganefficiencyof25%,positive
mechanicalworkalonewouldstillaccountforaminimumofapproximatelytwothirdsofthemetaboliccostwe
observed.Thisleadsustofavormechanicalworkastheprimarycauseofincreasedmetaboliccostforload
carriage,similartotheconclusionsofGrenieretal.(Grenieretal.,2012).
Ourexperimententailedanumberofsimplifications.Subjectswalkedonasmoothtreadmillsurfaceatfixed
speed,whereastypicalloadcarriageisoftenperformedatselfselected,nonconstantspeedandonuneven
ground,wheretheremaybeadditionalmetaboliccostsandchallengestobalance.Wealsoexaminedonly
moderateloads,whereasheavierloadsmayentailamorenonlinearandgreaterrelativemetaboliccost(Souleet
al.,1978)anddifferentkinematics(Attwellsetal.,2006BirrellandHaslam,2009).Wealsodidnotstudythe
effectoftheload'spositionontheback,whichcanpotentiallyaffecttheCOMlocationandenergyexpenditure
(Stuempfleetal.,2004).Weinsteadplacedtheloadsatoneconsistentlocationontheback,asmightbetypical
ofmanyapplications.Asdiscussedabove,themeasuresofCOMworkandjointworkarebothimperfect
indicatorsofactualmusclework.Musclework,eveniftheaccuratelymeasured,alsodoesnotnecessarily
indicateactualmetaboliccost,aswhenactivationanddeactivationcostsarehigh(DeanandKuo,2011).These
limitationsmaycausedifferencesbetweentheresultsreportedhereandactualwalkingwithloadcarriage.
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Thereareneverthelesssomefindingsthatmayapplytoloadcarriageingeneral.Abackpackloadincreasesthe
massthatmustberedirectedthroughCOMwork,andappearstohaverelativelylittleeffectongaitkinematics
andtheamountofredirection.TheresultisaproportionateincreaseinCOMwork,accomplishedmostlybythe
ankleandkneeforpositivework,andthehipfornegativework.TheincreasesinCOMwork(andsummed
jointwork)appeartotranslateintoaproportionalincreaseinmetabolicenergyexpenditure.Whileother
metaboliccostsmightalsocontributetowalking,theircontributionsappearedtobeeitherrelativelyfixed
despiteaddedmass,orcorrelatedwith(andthereforenotseparablefrom)theworkweobserved.Thelargest
effectofacarriedbackpackloadappearstobeaproportionalincreaseinmechanicalwork,withaproportional
increaseinmetaboliccost.
SkiptoPreviousSectionSkiptoNextSection

MATERIALSANDMETHODS
Weperformedanexperimenttomeasurehealthyadultswalkingwithabackpackload.Wemeasuredmetabolic
energyexpenditureandgaitkinematicsandkineticsduringtreadmillwalking.Kineticmeasuresconsistedof
COMworkperformedbytheindividuallimbsaswellasjointworkfortheankle,kneeandhip.Wetestedfor
linearrelationshipsbetweencarriedloadandmechanicalwork,betweenloadandmetabolicenergyexpenditure,
andbetweenworkandmetabolicenergyexpenditure.Thedetailsoftheexperimentarepresentedbelow,
followedbyabriefexplanationofthemechanismbywhichcarriedloadshouldtranslateintowork.

Experiment
Eightsubjects(N=8,6maleand2female)weretestedwhilewalkingwithabackpackloadataconstantspeed
of1.25ms1.Fourloadsrangingfrom6.8to20.4kg(steelweightsof15,25,35and45lbs)weretested,
carriedbyanexternalframebackpack(3.8kg)withstandardshoulderstrapsandhipbelt.Theloadswere
placedbehindtheback,approximately0.23mhigherthanthesacrum.Normalwalkingwithoutabackpackwas
alsotestedforreference.Subjectsrangedfrom19to26yearsofageandhadameanbodymass,M,of
71.112.0kg(s.d.)andleglength,L,of0.990.03m.Allsubjectsprovidedwritteninformedconsentpriorto
thestudy,accordingtoInstitutionalReviewBoardprocedures.
Wemeasuredtherateofoxygenconsumptionandcarbondioxideproduction(inmlmin1)toestimatethe
metabolicenergyexpenditurerate,expressedinunitsofpower(W)usingstandardconversionfactors
(Brockway,1987).Eachwalkingtriallastedatleast8min,withthefirst3mindiscardedtoensuresteadystate,
andaveragepowercomputedfromtheremainingduration.Netmetabolicrate, EmbeddedImage ,was
calculatedbysubtractingmetabolicpowerforquietstanding(109.5420.32W,0.05070.0065dimensionless)
fromthegrossmetabolicpower.
WecalculatedinstantaneousCOMworkrate,PCOM,astheinnerproductofgroundreactionforce,
EmbeddedImage ,ofeachlegandCOMvelocity, EmbeddedImage (Donelanetal.,2002a): EmbeddedImage
(1)Thegroundreactionforceundereachlegwasmeasuredwithacustominstrumented,splitbelttreadmill
(Collinsetal.,2009).TheCOMvelocitywascomputedfromtheintegrationoftotalgroundreactionforce,
subjecttoconstraintsonperiodicity.Thepositiveworkperstride, EmbeddedImage ,wascalculatedfromthe
integrationofpositiveintervalsofPCOMovereachstride,andtheaveragerateofpositiveCOMwork,
EmbeddedImage ,wasdefinedasthepositiveCOMworkperstridedividedbystridetimeandmultipliedby2
fortwolegs(andsimilarlyfornegativework, EmbeddedImage ).Thus,whileworkperstrideisasingleleg
quantity,mechanicalworkrateisforbothlegs,tofacilitatecomparisonwithnetmetabolicratetoyieldapparent
efficiency.WealsoqualitativelyexaminedfourphasesofCOMworkratedefinedfrompositiveandnegative
intervals:collision,rebound,preloadandpushoff(Donelanetal.,2002b).Wealsomeasuredothergait
parameterssuchassteplength,steptimeanddoublesupporttime.
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Jointworkwascomputedfromjointpowersusinginversedynamicsmethods.Anopticalmotioncapture
system(VICON,LosAngeles,CA,USA)wasusedtocapturelowerextremitykinematics,andinverse
dynamicsanalysiswasperformedusingstandardsoftware(Visual3D,CMotion,Germantown,MD,USA)for
calculatingjointangles,momentsandpowersfortheankle,kneeandhip,inthreedimensions.Asixdegreeof
freedommodelwasusedforeachsegment(Hanavan,1964),althoughonlysagittalplaneanglesandmoments
areplottedforsimplicity.Positivejointworkperstridewascalculatedfromtheintegrationofpositiveintervals
ofjointpowerovereachstep.Asasimplesummaryforanentireleg,wedefinedsummedjointpowerasnet
powerfromtheankle,kneeandhipofoneleg.Positivesummedjointworkperstride, EmbeddedImage ,was
definedastheintegrationofpositiveintervalsofsummedjointpower.Similarintegrationswereperformedfor
negativeworkquantities(e.g. EmbeddedImage ).Averageworkratesweredefinedasworkperstride
multipliedby2anddividedbystridetime.
Toserveastheprimaryindependentvariableinthestudy,wedefinedtotalmass,Mtotal,asthecombinedmass
ofthebody(M)plustheaddedmassoftheload(Mloadincludingbackpackandload).Measurementswere
reportedindimensionlessform,usingbaseunitsofbodymass,M,standingleglength,L(groundtogreater
trochanter),andgravitationalacceleration,g.Forexample,masseswerenormalizedbyM(average71.1kg),
momentandworkbyMgL(average692.66Nm),powerbyMg1.5L0.5(average2176.12W)andsteplengthby
L(0.99m).

Modelanddataanalysis
Weanalyzedthedatawithrespecttothreerelationshipsbetweencarriedmass,mechanicalworkandmetabolic
energyexpenditure.Thefirstsuchrelationshipwasforthedependencybetweenrateofmechanicalwork
performedontheCOMandaddedmass.Simplemodelsofdynamicwalking(Fig.1)predictthatworkmustbe
performedtoredirecttheCOMvelocitybetweenpendulumlikesteps(Kuo,2002).Pushofffromthetrailing
legperformspositiveworkattheendofonestancephase.Thisisfollowedbyacollisionoftheleadingleg,
whichperformsnegativeworkatthebeginningofthenextstancephase.ExperimentsshowthatCOM
redirectionalsooccursduringstance,inaburstofpositiveworktermedrebound,followedbynegativework
termedpreload(Donelanetal.,2002b),whichbothappeartointeractwithcollisionandpushoff.Justas
kineticenergyisproportionaltomass,soistheworkperformedontheCOMproportionaltoMtotalv2s2,where
viswalkingspeedandsissteplength(AdamczykandKuo,2009Donelanetal.,2002b).Previousstudieshave
showncarriedmasstohavelittleeffectonsteplengthatafixedspeed.Wethereforeexpectthatforafixed
speed,thepositiveCOMworkperstepwillincreaseinproportiontoaddedmass(load+backpackmass):
EmbeddedImage (2)wherecisanempiricalcoefficientofproportionalityanddisaconstantrepresenting
workindependentofload.
Thesecondrelationshiptestedwasbetweenrateofmetabolicenergyexpenditureandaddedmass.Weexpect
thatCOMworkshouldaccountforasubstantialfractionofmetaboliccost,andthereforethemetabolicrate
EmbeddedImage shouldalsoincreaseaccordingto: EmbeddedImage (3)wherecisanempiricalcoefficient
anddisaconstantrepresentingenergycostindependentofload(theprimesymbolreferstometabolicenergy
asopposedtowork).Anexampleofthelatterisbasalmetabolism,whichproceedsregardlessoftask.The
combinationofworkandenergyexpenditureisalsomademoreexplicitbythethirdrelationship:
EmbeddedImage (4)wheretheempiricalefficiency,,isexpectednottoexceed25%(Margaria,1976),and
theconstant EmbeddedImage representsmetabolicenergycostindependentofwork.Thedefinedhere
representsthechangeinmetaboliccostperchangeinwork,sometimestermedadeltaefficiency(Gaesserand
Brooks,1975).Itisalsopossiblethatthereareothercontributionstoenergyexpenditurethatalsochangewith
totalmass,butareunrelatedtoCOMwork,whichwouldbeexpectedtoappearasaresidualerrorinEqn4.
Weusedlinearregressiontotestthesehypothesizedrelationships.Weperformedstandardleastsquares
regression,withMloadastheindependentvariable,forEqns2and3.WeusedtotalleastsquarestotestforEqn
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4,treatingboth EmbeddedImage and EmbeddedImage assubjecttomeasurementerror.Tofocusonlinear

trendsthatapplyacrossdifferentindividuals,eachregressionwasperformedwithasingleslopeacrossall
subjects[reportedwithacorresponding95%confidenceinterval(CI)]andaseparateoffsetforeachindividual.
Theoffsetsaccountforthefactthatindividualscandifferinmanyrespectsnotrelatedtotheindependent
variable,suchasbodymassdistribution,musclefibercompositionandbasalmetabolicrate.Thesecanresultin
differentamountsofworkandenergyexpenditurefornormalwalking,andthereforeconsiderablevariationin
theoffsets.Tosummarizetheseeffects,graphicalresultsarepresentedwiththemeanoffsetacrossindividuals,
andtabularresultsincludethestandarddeviationofoffsetsacrossindividuals.Wealsoexaminedresidualerrors
inthelinearfitstotestformetaboliccostsnothypothesizedhere,suchasenergyexpendedwithincreasingmass
butnotexplainedbywork.
Wealsotestedforothertrendsthatwerelesshypothesisbased.Wetestedhowthepositivejointworkperstride
( EmbeddedImage , EmbeddedImage and EmbeddedImage forankle,kneeandhip,respectively)changedas
afunctionoftotalmass,andsimilarlyfornegativeworkperstride( EmbeddedImage , EmbeddedImage and
EmbeddedImage ).Thereisnofundamentalprinciplegoverninghowworkshouldbeapportionedbetweenthe
joints,andsoweappliedlinearregressiontodetermineandquantifythedependence,ratherthantotesta
specifichypothesis.Wedid,however,expectthepositivesummedjointworkperstride, EmbeddedImage ,to
increaselinearlywithmass,becausethejointsareultimatelyresponsibleforthepositiveworkperformedonthe
COM(Eqn2).Similarly,weexpectednegativesummedjointworkperstride, EmbeddedImage ,toincreasein
magnitudewithmass.Itsmagnitudeshouldalsobelessthanthepositivesummedjointwork,becausesome
negativeworkisperformedpassivelythroughdeformationofsofttissues(ZelikandKuo,2010).
SkiptoPreviousSectionSkiptoNextSection

FOOTNOTES
Authorcontributions
T.P.H.andA.D.K.conceivedofthestudyanddraftedthemanuscript.T.P.H.designedandcarriedoutall
experimentsanddataanalyses.Bothauthorsreadandapprovedthefinalmanuscript.
Competinginterests
Theauthorsdeclarenocompetingfinancialinterests.
Funding
ThisworkwassupportedinpartbytheOfficeofNavalResearch(ETOWLprogram),theDepartmentof
Defense(W81XWH0920142),theNationalInstitutesofHealth(AG0308)andtheDefenseAdvanced
ResearchProjectsAgency(AtlasProgram).DepositedinPMCforreleaseafter12months.
2014.PublishedbyTheCompanyofBiologistsLtd
SkiptoPreviousSection

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Keywords
Biomechanics
Energeticcosts
Loadcarriagewalking
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Mechanicsandenergeticsofloadcarriageduringhumanwalking
TzuweiP.Huang,ArthurD.Kuo
JournalofExperimentalBiology2014217:605613doi:10.1242/jeb.091587
Permalink: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/217/4/605
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