Termination of human gait

This study presents a detailed description of the events that take place during termination of human gait. This study was concerned with the patterns of foot-floor contact, ground reaction forces (Fy and Fz), electromyography (EMG) activities of the four gait related muscle groups, and joint angles of the lower extremity of the body (hip, knee, and ankle angle) during the termination of human gait. The termination of human gait is defined as the transition from a steady-state gait to a quiet standing posture. The transition between these two states has been neither extensively studied nor defined. Two mechanisms appear to be involved in termination: reduction of push-off forces in the last push-off and increased braking forces in the first foot to reach terminal foot placement. There appears to be a critical region of the gait cycle where a decision is made to take another step or to stop. Poorly controlled stops were observed in some experiments, and the results could be interpreted to suggest that attempting to terminate gait within this region may result in a higher probability of a fall.