Metabolic and cinematographic analysis of walking and running in men and women.

The purposes of this study were to compare the total metabolic costs and gait patterns of walking and running at self-selected, comfortable speeds in males and females. Total oxygen consumption was used to determine the metabolic cost, and cinematographic analysis was used to study the gait patterns of walking and running a distance of 1 km in 12 male and 12 female subjects. No significant sex difference was observed for the speed, vertical lift per stride, and total vertical lift per km of distance walked. Females ran at a significantly slower speed than males (P less than .01), but no significant sex difference was observed for the vertical lift per stride or total vertical lift per km of distance run. In both sexes, the gross and net energy costs of running were significantly greater (P less than .001) than those of walking when values were expressed as kcal . kg-1 . km-1 or cal . kg-1 . stride-1. No significant sex difference was observed in the gross or net metabolic cost of walking, whereas during running, the gross and net metabolic costs in kcal . kg-1 . km-1 were significantly higher (P less than .05) in females than in males. It was hypothesized that this sex difference was due to the cumulative effect of several factors which were biomechanical and metabolic in nature.