Modulation of leg muscle activity and gait kinematics by walking speed and bodyweight unloading

Ankle dexterity is less impaired than muscle strength in incomplete spinal cord lesion

“…Since initiation and termination of dorsiflexion in swing are dependent on gait speed [35], the same walking speed was chosen for both the iSCI patients and the control subjects. Nevertheless, apart from a slight delay, none of these measures was significantly altered in the iSCI group, which indicates that gait cycle control was not considerably impaired.…”

Comparing two devices of suspended treadmill walking by varying body unloading and Froude number

“…Several studies have investigated the influence of body unloading and treadmill speed on the locomotion pattern in a group of non-disabled volunteers. These studies focus on the kinematics of the lower extremity [11][12][13][14][15], EMG of the leg muscles [12,14,16,17], energy expenditure [13,16], and cardiovascular parameters [13,15,16]. In all of these studies, treadmill speed was kept constant independent of the level of unloading.…”

Leg Strength, Preferred Walking Speed, and Daily Step Activity in Adults With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injuries

“…13,14 The average walking speed for our sample was 0.43 ± 0.21 m•s recorded in other studies of male and female adults with iSCI classified as AIS C and D. 15,16 Viewed collectively, this trio of walking speeds falls below the threshold for independent community ambulation, thus setting the stage for Table 3. Relationships among leg strength, preferred walking speed, and daily step activity an increased reliance on assistive mobility aids to facilitate locomotion.…”