A New Study Reveals How to Make Walking Easier

Walking might be difficult at times, especially for those who have leg ailments. But it is found how to make walking easier.

A team of scientists at the University of Nebraska at Omaha found a way to reduce energy while walking. According to the research published in Science Robotics, an individual attached by a waist belt to a pulley spends less energy on every step provided that pull is strategically timed.

“When we walk, there is a short period between steps where one foot is stopping its forward motion while the other is preparing to accelerate to take the next step forward,” said Philippe Malcolm, assistant professor in biomechanics at UNO, who leads the research. “Our research shows that this brief window where both feet are on the ground is the best time to apply force to assist walking most efficiently”.

Relatively, this device can easily be adjusted according to your expectations. The only thing to be done is to wear a waist belt. This method can be applied in the field of health for those with peripheral artery disease.

What Iraklis Pipinos, a vascular surgeon at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, already saw is just one example of this application. “My patients have hardening of their arteries causing problems in the circulation to their legs, resulting in leg pain and reduced mobility,” said Pipinos.

Some patients who tried the device already felt relief in their legs. “We are now thinking of ways these methods can be used in everyday practice, for example, by using systems for assisted walking exercise therapy at physical therapy clinics,” he said.