Week Three

Hello Readers!

I post this with exciting news--I have found four of my own "subjects" to walk backwards for me so I can develop a better understanding of backwards walking! Today, I will show you how these human steps work in a more specific sense than "step back, step forward". My four walkers, S1, S2, S3, and S4 are all incredibly athletic and have had zero past issues with any lower limbs. They also didn't know for what reason they were being asked to walk backwards, so as to eliminate any strange movements they may have had otherwise. Here, I will show you the pictures of one walker with descriptions of each movement.

1. This is the first initial step back. Here, the subject's left foot is stationary while the right one lifts up before moving back, this is called controlled dorsiflexion.

2. Following the previous step, the subject has moved her right foot back and touched her toes down to the ground before setting her entire foot flat. This step is called controlled plantar-flexion. Controlled, in this context, means that the walker is able to control their foot's movement, so instead of the foot slamming onto the ground, it is controlled and moved carefully down. Often, people with walking disabilities don't have this control, which is why you see their steps as heavy and slammed.

3. Next, as the right foot touches down, her left foot begins to move upward with her heel as the "pivot point", which develops a torque. This is where we see physical properties being able to relate to a biologically inspired prosthesis. Again, this movement is called dorsiflexion.

4. Finally, the step is finished when the subject brings her left foot back and touches her toe to the ground. This movement is called controlled plantar-flexion.

In each of these moments, we see that most of the muscles tensed are in her calf muscles and quadriceps rather than the muscles of the ankle, which are only tensed when the subject is raising or lowering her foot, dorsiflexion and plantar-flexion, respectively. Whereas, in forwards walking, the calves and quads are much less often tensed. This difference in movement between backward walking and forward walking is one reason it's important to test for backward walking.

My apologies if this post makes you pay a little too much attention to how you walk. After starting this project, I find myself quite often noticing the gait of those around me.

Until next time,
Pooja