Joint Kinetics and Muscle Activity While Walking on Ballast

Abstract

The results suggest that ballast has an effect on muscles and joints; thus, the findings provide insight to improve and develop new work practices and methods for injury prevention.

Gait Characteristics Associated with Trip-Induced Falls on Level and Sloped Irregular Surfaces

“…However, adaptive gait strategies occur that change toe clearance to permit foot clearance, comfortable locomotion, and vertical balance [14,21]. Similarly, the combination of transverse slope and irregular surface type resulted in obvious gait adaptations.…”

“…Three walking surface types: larger rocks (LR), gravel (G), and hard surface (HS) (structural plywood sheeting), and two walkway configurations, level and sloped (7°) were examined in this study. The slope in this study was chosen as 7° to compare to research reported by others [13] and transverse slope gait adaptations on a 6° slope [14,21].…”

Walking on uneven terrain in healthy adults and the implications for people after stroke

“…The wider and longer steps while walking on foam may provide an increased base of support making it easier to control the center of mass. While walking on two different surfaces, one composed of railroad ballast (irregularly shaped crushed stone) and the other of artificial grass over foam and small objects, a different adaptation pattern was observed; step time increased, similar to the response on foam, but step length decreased (Menant, Steele, Menz, Munro, & Lord, 2009; Wade et al, 2010). It is possible that the reduced speed associated with walking under these conditions may have influenced the step length.…”

“…The characteristics of uneven terrain, as well as the transitions between various surfaces, make anticipation of task demands particularly challenging. For instance, during walking on uneven terrain healthy adults modify both step parameters and limb kinematics to meet the demands of the task (MacLellan & Patla, 2006; Voloshina, Kuo, Daley, & Ferris, 2013; Wade, Redfern, Andres, & Breloff, 2010). Furthermore, healthy adults seem to rely on somatosensory inputs to adjust their walking strategy on uneven terrain, as a lack of visualization of the surface has no impact on step parameters (Rogers, Cromwell, & Grady, 2008; Schulz, 2011; Thies, Richardson, & Ashton-Miller, 2005).…”

The influence of deformation height on estimating the center of pressure during level and cross-slope walking on sand

“…Other studies have focused on the effects of walking on gravel, like railroad ballast. Wade et al compared the difference of joint kinetics when subjects walked on smooth and ballast surfaces [7]. Merryweather investigated the lower limb biomechanics when walking on cross-slope and level railroad ballast with 10 subjects [8].…”