A new definition of mechanical work done in human movement

Abstract

The definition of efficiency of human movement has often been unable to cope with activities such as level gait because the numerator of the efficiency equation includes only external work done by the body on an external load. The major purpose of this paper is to propose a definition that not only accounts for any external work but also the internal work done by the limbs themselves. The internal work involves a new biomechanical analysis that takes into account all potential and kinetic energy components, all exchanges of energy within and between segments, and both positive and negative work done by the muscles. This analysis was applied to a study of over-ground level gait on eight subjects walking at different walking speeds. The internal work/stride as calculated from the sum of segment energies was compared with the same calculation on the body's center of mass energy. The latter was found to be in error (low) by 16.2% and could be low by as much as 40%. The average internal work per body mass per distance walked was 1.09 J/kg.m.