People come in different shapes and sizes. In particular, calf muscle size in humans varies considerably. One possible cause for the different shapes of calf muscles is the inherent difference in neural signals sent to these muscles during walking. In sedentary adults, the variability in neural control of the calf muscles was examined with muscle size, walking kinematics and limb morphometrics. Half the subjects walked while activating their medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles more strongly than their lateral gastrocnemius (LG) muscles during most walking speeds (‘MG-biased’). The other subjects walked while activating their MG and LG muscles nearly equally (‘unbiased’). Those who walked with an MG-biased recruitment pattern also had thicker MG muscles and shorter heel lengths, or MG muscle moment arms, than unbiased walkers, but were similar in height, weight, lower limb length, foot length, and exhibited similar walking kinematics. The relatively less plastic skeletal system may drive calf muscle size and motor recruitment patterns of walking in humans.
As slow gait speed is a major feature of frailty and a diagnostic criterion of sarcopenia, gait speed measurement is widely used. Nowadays, with development of wearable devices, it is possible to measure daily-life gait speed without additional effort just by wearing the device. It is meaningful to measure daily-life gait speed and to analyze the association between the speed and sarcopenia. Participants were men over 50 years of age who visited the university hospital. Daily-life gait speed was checked using a smart belt (WELT) for 4 weeks. Afterwards, a survey about past medical history, usual gait speed measurement, handgrip strength measurement, and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry were performed. A total of 217,548 daily-life gait speed measurement data were analyzed for 106 participants. The mean daily-life gait speed was 1.23 ± 0.26 m/s. The mean age was 71.1 ± 7.6, and daily-life gait speed was significantly slower as people get older. (P<0.001) Additionally, weekday gait speed (1.23 ± 0.26 m/s) was significantly faster than weekend gait speed (1.22 ± 0.26 m/s). (P<0.001) Participants with sarcopenia (1.15 ± 0.25 m/s) had significantly slower mean daily-life gait speed than normal subjects (1.23 ± 0.26 m/s). (P<0.001) In analyzing factors related to gait speed, age and skeletal muscle mass of lower limbs were significantly associated with mean daily-life gait speed. Additional information about the gait speed can be obtained by measuring daily-life gait speed, and the daily-life gait speed has a significant association with the skeletal muscle mass of lower limbs.
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