Running Head: HUMAN GAIT
1
Human Gait
Harmony N. Binney
Diamond Ranch High School
Section 2: Abstract
As we pass by, and meet new people throughout the day, we may begin to notice the different
patterns by which people walk, run, or conduct their daily activities. There have been many
researchers who have explored the human gait in order to develop strategies to help fix current or
future problems. The purpose of this project is to research deeper into the human gait by
interviewing people with the most interesting walking habits, and then reproducing it into
movement for a piece based off of the interviews and information found. This all begins with the
question of "What are the causes of our different types of gaits?" While branching off from that
question, the tasks of the project consist of interviewing, recording, and creating a piece to
exhibit each person’s own style. After the project is complete, the reader should be able to walk
away with an understanding of the reasons for why and how we move the way we do and
possible ways to fix or improve any problems being caused by the gait. This may also help ones
view on the different styles around us with a new perspective and interest.
Section 3: The Human Gait
An interest of mine has always been to observe and analyze how each person has
different movement patterns. This then became more amusing once I joined the Diamond Ranch
dance company and learned about kinesiology and the way the body works. I began to pay closer
attention to the way people moved to see if there were any signs of possible injury. As I was
inspired to do my senior research project on human gait, I realized how difficult it was to explain
to people that there is a reason behind the way we walk, so this inspired me to dig deeper into
research on the way we walk. There are times when people’s feet curve either in or out when
they take a step, or their feet flick inward or outward when they come off the ground. Other
people seem to walk or run with maybe a limp, or their hips roll and snap with each step; this
being caused by or affected by posture. These were all interesting patterns that I have been
noticing, and I continue to see various styles of walks involving the entire body as I observe or
notice people throughout the day.
There are causes from injuries, bone development, size, shape, and even confidence
levels that affect the way we walk. As one grows older, their environment also begins to alter the
way one moves, possibly based off of trends, or experiences and influences. That has even
occurred throughout all the years of dance, by changing the styles of technique and altering
movement to fit new eras. That is then when the idea of recapturing gaits and manipulating it
into a piece came to mind. I feel that at the end of the piece, it could resemble an evolution feel
for both human gait and composition of dance. Moreover, creating an awareness of the body we
live in and the ones around us.
Many researchers within the neurological area have contributed information to the human
gait such as observed styles involving Hemiplegic Gait, Diplegic Gait, Neuropathic Gait,
Myopathic Gait, Parkinsonian Gait, Choreiform Gait, Ataxic Gait, and Hemiplegic Gait.
(http://library.med.utah.edu/neurologicexam/html/gait_abnormal.html) Most of those walking
abnormalities are usually due to injuries or diseases. AS noticed in the following interviews from
people I obsevered, the cause do come from problems such as injury, shoe problems, tendonitis,
or most common, postural imbalance. Many of these abnormalities can be treated with physical
therapy; which I plan pursing a careen in.
Section 4: Initial Research and Guiding Question
Many researchers such as the Journal of Neurological and Rehabilitation, Nikolaus F.
Troje, the Journal of Ankle and Foot Research, and the Biomechanics Laboratory at the
University of Calgary have published articles not only about the various types of gaits, but also
about the reasons for it from different age ranges. Hausdorff (2005) goes into depth about the
variations of gait in elderly people caused by diseases, disorders, or injuries. Many of these
sources have gained this knowledge from studying the human body and how all the bones and
muscles work.
Out of all the information and many sources covering this topic, I hope to gain more
knowledge about how the body works. I plan to use this in the future as I work towards my
master in kinesiology to become a physical therapist. This research will then help me learn how
to locate problem areas sooner and fix them more effectively.
Guiding questions that have been used in research, such as the MedicinePlus Medical
Encyclopedias information, branched off from “When did this problem with walking begin? Did
it occur suddenly or gradually? Has it become worse over time? Have there been any recent or
past leg injuries?” and much more on
(http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003199.html). This was able to help me
conduct the interview and explain to the interviewed chiropractor in order to retain information
about how to treat these problems.
Section 5: Procedures
Within this project, there are many steps I have to complete in order to turn in the final
project. The first step would be to get consent forms to ask permission to interview and record,
then to display the information. I would then choose four to five people from school that seem to
have the most interesting gaits to give the consent form to. With those people from school I will
interview them to find out more about their past and any issues they have been having within
daily activities. I will also have to record them from the front, side, and back to help with
creating movement for the piece and for breaking down what causes these uncommon gaits.
After I collect that information, I will then interview a chiropractor who knows how to explain
the reasoning behind all the different gaits viewed. Once I have completed the interviews and
videos, and collected all the information I can get, I will then begin to incorporate people’s
movement into choreography for a piece that shows the evolution of these gaits. I would like the
piece to display distinct key point in the obvious problem areas, and the movement will probably
end up looking very slow and modern like. I predict that this will be the most difficult part to
conduct, but it will give me the opportunity to really experience the motions of being in someone
else shoes.
Post procedure: After processing all the facts and information, I was able to go back to
the interviewees to explain where the issues stemmed from. Some had already been treating the
issues with physical therapy or home treatment, and others had no idea about the actual issues
within their tendons and muscles. Once it was explained to them how to prevent any injuries
caused by their gait styles, they were able to focus on using, or stretching out, or strengthening
the correct areas of their bodies to begin to fix these abnormalities.
Section 6: Timeline and Evidence
Date
Goal
Journal
April 9- April 11, 2014
Find 4-5 people from school
I have noticed that each of the
interviews is completely
different, as far as each person
feeling differently about the
way they walk. It varied from
one person having a lot of
information about how their
gait has developed, to another
person who thinks everything
is completely normal.
April 18, 2014
Interview Dr. Ubom
This chiropractor was
extremely helpful to my
research. She was able to
explain what causes the
problems and how to fix
future problems. She also
explained which muscles and
tendons are involved and the
names of the muscles to
stretch or strengthen. There
was a lot of information given
to me that I was able to pass
on to the people I interviewed
and extra information to
understand the gait process
better overall.
April 11- April 28, 2014
Organize all information
A lot of the information from
my original draft was deleted
and changed, or had a lot of
adding on the do. My view
completely changed after the
interviews as I began to
understand and observe each
gait to a different extent.
April 21- April 28, 2014
Complete the piece
Before I actually began the
choreography, I was able to
picture different parts of the
piece in my head, and
mentally compose how to
portray what was said in the
interviews and seen in the
videos
Interviews
Four interviews were conducted with Sunshine Buitrago: Whose feet turn in as she walks; some
may say this is “pigeon-toed”, Alizah: Whose knees curve in when she takes each step; some
may call the “knock-kneed”, Tiara Spirlin: Whose hips roll and snap with each step and her
knees turn in slightly, Ashley Lemus: Who walks with her feet turned out and pelvis slightly
forward, and Kimberly Gonzales: Who has one foot that turns in, and the other foot rolls in,
while both knees wobble and turn far inwards.
Do you have any past medical issues?
Sunshine: When she was born her feet were completely curved in. She used to have to wear her
shoes on opposite feet to get used to turning out. Her father had the same problem.
Alizha: Her spine is crooked from bad posture.
Tiara: Has injured left knee and left ankle.
Ashley: No.
Kimberly: She recently got hit by a car so her knees have been having problems.
Do you consider you gait to be “normal?”
Sunshine: No, because she has always had to have training on how to walk “correctly.”
Alizha: No, she always just knew it was “weird” and seemed different than others.
Tiara: No, she has noticed that she was either knock-kneed or pigeon-toed.
Ashley: Yes, “Ithought so.”
Kimberly: No, she knows that she’s always walked crooked.
Does this affect any daily activities or sports?
Sunshine: It hurts her to walk and run sometimes because she’s constantly trying to fix it by
turning out.
Aliza: No.
Tiara: Yes, in dance it is harder to turn out.
Ashley: No.
Kimberly: It hurts her to walk.
Are there any other facts that would be important for the research?
Sunshine: Her shoes wear out on the inside quicker and the balls of her feet hurt because that’s
where most of the pressure is placed. Her dad had to use a bar between his feet when he slept to
keep them outward.
Tiara: The outside of her shoes wear our faster and occasionally has pain on the top of her feet
when she walks.
Information from Dr. Ubom
Sunshine: Being born with an issue that transformed the way she walks, makes this special gait
called “Functional Gait.” This then can be explained by the bare anatomy.
Alizha: Her gait is caused by postural imbalances which cause gait dysfunction. By her knees
curving in, this means that different muscles are either too strong or too weak. If one is referred
to as knock-kneed, then their Vastus Medialis Oblique is too weak. As a result of her lateral
chain, the outside of her knees are too tight, so to fix this, she should stretch out her IT band and
interior tibialus.
Tiara: The rolling and snapping of her hips are also from postural imbalance. This can also be
caused when a tendon goes over the bone and is overworked from doing too much that a
different muscle should be doing. In order to help fix this problem and prevent further damage,
she should stretch the ilio tsoas to strengthen her glutes, and this should help stop the rolling of
the hips.
Ashley: She has what is called external rotation of the feet which is developed from the muscle
Piri Sormis, and external rotators of the hip. Many people who have this may record feeling of
pain, numbness, or tingling down the leg. This is caused from her adductors being too tight, so
she would need to stretch and strengthen them.
Kimberly: Another gait dysfunction partly caused from postural imbalance, partly caused by
recent injuries. She would need to strengthen the Vastus Medials and Interior Tibialus. She is
also using her tendons for extra work that a different muscle should be doing, therefore the
tendons in her knees are tight, weak, and overworked.
Section 7: Human Resources

4-5 people to interview

Dr. Ubom
Section 8: Facilities, Equipment and Budget

School; campus

Consent forms

Video camera (phone)

Studio

Interview questions