Muscle Metabolic Energy Costs While Modifying Propulsive Force Generation During Walking

We pose that an age-related increase in the metabolic cost of walking arises in part from a redistribution of joint power where muscles spanning the hip compensate for insufficient ankle push-off and smaller peak propulsive forces (FP). Young adults elicit a similar redistribution when walking with smaller FP via biofeedback. We used targeted FP biofeedback and musculoskeletal models to estimate the metabolic costs of operating lower limb muscles in young adults walking across a range of FP. Our simulations support the theory of distal-to-proximal redistribution of joint power as a determinant of increased metabolic cost in older adults during walking.