The role of anticipatory postural adjustments and gravity in gait initiation

This study analyzes the anticipatory postural adjustments which precede heel-off by considering the participation of the gravitational and muscular actions about the ankle joints during the gait initiation process. The resultant moment about the ankle joints and the gravitational moment were calculated using a biomechanical model in five normal subjects for three different speed conditions. The results show that the variations of these two moments are correlated to the velocity at the end of the first step. Nevertheless, a significant variation of the ankle joints moment occurs at the beginning of the anticipatory phase, whereas the gravity effect is still insignificant. These findings show how the successive controls of the muscular actions acting during the anticipatory movement and of the gravity action acting principally during the step execution allow the subject to reach the velocity which has been initially and centrally decided, by the end of the first step.