Anticipatory Locomotor Adjustments During Walking Over Unilateral Obstacles In Able-Bodied Participants

Abstract

Walking control was assessed by investigating the changes in net joint power while going over unilateral obstacles placed in the plane of progression. Participants performed obstructed walking trials across seven different obstacle heights (0 to 60 cm) while kinematic and kinetic data were collected. Anticipatory locomotor adjustments (ALA) were observed in both crossing and supporting legs. Notably, there were significant adjustments in the supporting leg with the emergence of a plantar flexor energy generation phase, accompanied by an increase in hip extensors energy generation at the onset of the stance phase for higher obstacles. Furthermore, a complementarity in the power bursts of the crossing leg muscles was noted. Specifically, the left leg exhibited a greater pulling motion at the knee due to an enhanced knee flexor energy generation. This thesis contributes to a greater characterization of ALA to unilateral obstacles and provides some evidence about the complementarity of these adjustments.