PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Study: Alternate walking and running to save energy, maintain endurance

2013-01-30
(Press-News.org) COLUMBUS, Ohio—Forget "slow and steady wins the race." A new study shows that, at least sometimes, the best way to conserve energy and reach your destination on time is to alternate between walking and running—whether your goal is the bus stop or a marathon finish line.

In the January 30, 2013 issue of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, researchers examined how people budget their time as they travel on foot to reach a destination at a particular appointed time. The study found that when people have neither too much time nor too little time to reach their destination, they naturally switch back and forth between walking and running, which turns out to be the best strategy for saving energy.

The study is the first of its kind not conducted on treadmills, and it supports the notion that the human body has an innate sense of how to vary speed to optimize energy when we're on the move in our natural environment.

"We don't live our lives on a treadmill," said Manoj Srinivasan, co-author of the study and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State University. "To better understand how we move in our everyday life, and how our spontaneous movements relate to energy expenditure, we have to study what people do away from the treadmill. Once we have a good enough understanding of how we naturally move to conserve energy, we can build a solid theory and apply it in practical ways—designing better shoes, or better prosthetics that let people walk using less energy."

In tests, 36 college students were asked to travel a distance a little longer than a football field, either on pavement outdoors or inside a school hallway. They were given a stopwatch, and told to arrive at their destination at a specific time—not before and not after, but right on time. The students were free to set their own pace to achieve that goal, and were not told whether to walk or run.

Sometimes the students were told to make the trip in two minutes, so they could walk the entire way at a leisurely 2 miles per hour (about 1 meter per second) if they chose. At the other extreme, they were allotted only 30 seconds, so that they had to run the entire way at a brisk pace of 9 miles per hour (about 4 meters per second) to get there on time.

The researchers were most interested in what the students would do when they were allotted travel times between these two extremes. On a treadmill, people have to adjust their pace to match the machine in order to stay on the conveyer belt, but this study would reveal how people manage their gait, or movement pattern, when they can speed up and slow down whenever they want.

The study revealed the existence of a "transition region" between 4.5-6.7 miles per hour (about 2-3 meters per second) when the students tended to make the trip through a mix of walking and running. Regardless of any variable—fitness level, height, weight, leg length, the amount of time they were given for the trip, whether they were indoors or out—all the students employed a mixture of walking and running when they were moving at speeds within the transition region.

Using data previously recorded by other researchers who measured the typical human energy costs for walking and running at various speeds, Long and Srinivasan calculated that dividing up the trip into spurts of walking and running saved energy.

"Students seemed to naturally break into a run or slow down to a walk to save energy while ensuring that they arrived at their destination on time," Srinivasan observed.

The findings resonated with Leroy Long III, study co-author and doctoral student in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education at Ohio State. As a recreational runner, he always feels less fatigued if he varies his gait at a natural pace. But other researchers have posed different hypotheses as to what physical factors cause people to vary their gait.

"Previously, some researchers have argued that the speed at which we break into a run was really determined by other factors, such as muscle forces. However, such factors cannot explain why we sometimes use a mixture of walking and running. Our findings suggest, qualitatively at least, that the body actually tends to move in ways that will conserve energy," Long III said.

Next, Srinivasan will work on developing calculations that can be used to optimize everything from shoes and backpacks to prosthetic devices, and even assistive devices such as exoskeletons.

### Manoj Srinivasan, (614) 688-4671; Srinivasan.88@osu.edu Leroy Long III, (614) 292-7923; Long.914@osu.edu

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

In-brain monitoring shows memory network

In-brain monitoring shows memory network
2013-01-30
Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place. "Previous work has focused on one region of the brain at a time," said Arne Ekstrom, assistant professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. "Our results show that memory recall involves ...

New study shows 'just a bite' will satisfy

2013-01-30
How much chocolate would you need to eat to be satisfied? Less than half as much as you think, according to this recently published Cornell University snacking study. Using chocolate chips, apple pie, and potato chips, researchers Ellen van Kleef, Mitsuru Shimizu, and Brian Wansink designed a study to determine if people who were given smaller portions of snack foods would feel hungrier or satisfied fifteen minutes after eating. Two groups with different portion sizes were tested. The larger portion size group was given 100g of chocolate, 200g of apple pie, and 80g ...

Cornell engineers solve a biological mystery and boost artificial intelligence

2013-01-30
ITHACA, N.Y. – By simulating 25,000 generations of evolution within computers, Cornell University engineering and robotics researchers have discovered why biological networks tend to be organized as modules – a finding that will lead to a deeper understanding of the evolution of complexity. (Proceedings of the Royal Society, Jan. 30, 2013.) The new insight also will help evolve artificial intelligence, so robot brains can acquire the grace and cunning of animals. From brains to gene regulatory networks, many biological entities are organized into modules – dense clusters ...

Going trayless study shows student impact

Going trayless study shows student impact
2013-01-30
If you need any evidence of the impact of student research on life at American University's campus, look no further than something that's missing. Trays. Following a 2009 study at American University's main dining hall that showed a significant reduction in food waste and dishes used when trays were removed, trays have mostly gone the way of beanies and sock hops. Now, for the first time, a new paper coauthored by AU professor Kiho Kim and AU environmental studies graduate Stevia Morawski, provides hard evidence of big energy savings as well as a 32 percent reduction ...

Scripps Research Institute study shows how brain cells shape temperature preferences

Scripps Research Institute study shows how brain cells shape temperature preferences
2013-01-30
JUPITER, FL, January 29, 2013 – While the wooly musk ox may like it cold, fruit flies definitely do not. They like it hot, or at least warm. In fact, their preferred optimum temperature is very similar to that of humans—76 degrees F. Scientists have known that a type of brain cell circuit helps regulate a variety of innate and learned behavior in animals, including their temperature preferences. What has been a mystery is whether or not this behavior stems from a specific set of neurons (brain cells) or overlapping sets. Now, a new study from The Scripps Research Institute ...

Mistrust of government often deters older adults from HIV testing

2013-01-30
One out of every four people living with HIV/AIDS is 50 or older, yet these older individuals are far more likely to be diagnosed when they are already in the later stages of infection. Such late diagnoses put their health, and the health of others, at greater risk than would have been the case with earlier detection. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 43 percent of HIV-positive people between the ages of 50 and 55, and 51 percent of those 65 or older, develop full-blown AIDS within a year of their diagnosis, and these older adults account ...

'Super' enzyme protects against dangers of oxygen

2013-01-30
Just like a comic book super hero, you could say that the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD1) has a secret identity. Since its discovery in 1969, scientists believed SOD1's only role was to protect living cells against damage from free radicals. Now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have discovered that SOD1 protects cells by regulating cell energy and metabolism. The results of their research were published January 17, 2013, in the journal Cell. Transforming oxygen to energy for growth is key to life for all living cells, which happens ...

Spring may come earlier to North American forests

2013-01-30
Trees in the continental U.S. could send out new spring leaves up to 17 days earlier in the coming century than they did before global temperatures started to rise, according to a new study by Princeton University researchers. These climate-driven changes could lead to changes in the composition of northeastern forests and give a boost to their ability to take up carbon dioxide. Trees play an important role in taking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so researchers led by David Medvigy, assistant professor in Princeton's department of geosciences, wanted to evaluate ...

Low-income pregnant women in rural areas experience high levels of stress, researcher says

2013-01-30
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Stress during pregnancy puts mothers' and their babies' health at risk, previous research has shown. Now, a University of Missouri study indicates low-income pregnant women in rural areas experience high levels of stress yet lack appropriate means to manage their emotional and physical well-being. Health providers should serve as facilitators and link rural women with resources. "Many people think of rural life as being idyllic and peaceful, but, in truth, there are a lot of health disparities for residents of rural communities," said Tina Bloom, assistant ...

Professional training 'in the wild' overrides laboratory decision preferences

2013-01-30
Many simulation-based studies have been conducted, and theories developed, about the behaviors of financial market traders. New work by human factors/ergonomics (HF/E) researchers suggests that decision-making research on the behavior of traders conducted "in the wild" (i.e., real-world situations) can offer an alternative lens that extends laboratory insights and provokes new questions. In their article in the Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, "Understanding Preferences in Experience-Based Choice," authors Claire McAndrew (University College London) ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Call for papers: 14th Asia-Pacific Conference on Transportation and the Environment (APTE 2025)

A novel disturbance rejection optimal guidance method for enhancing precision landing performance of reusable rockets

New scan method unveils lung function secrets

Searching for hidden medieval stories from the island of the Sagas

Breakthrough study reveals bumetanide treatment restores early social communication in fragile X syndrome mouse model

Neuroscience leader reveals oxytocin's crucial role beyond the 'love hormone' label

Twelve questions to ask your doctor for better brain health in the new year

Microelectronics Science Research Centers to lead charge on next-generation designs and prototypes

Study identifies genetic cause for yellow nail syndrome

New drug to prevent migraine may start working right away

Good news for people with MS: COVID-19 infection not tied to worsening symptoms

Department of Energy announces $179 million for Microelectronics Science Research Centers

Human-related activities continue to threaten global climate and productivity

Public shows greater acceptance of RSV vaccine as vaccine hesitancy appears to have plateaued

Unraveling the power and influence of language

Gene editing tool reduces Alzheimer’s plaque precursor in mice

TNF inhibitors prevent complications in kids with Crohn's disease, recommended as first-line therapies

Twisted Edison: Bright, elliptically polarized incandescent light

Structural cell protein also directly regulates gene transcription

Breaking boundaries: Researchers isolate quantum coherence in classical light systems

Brain map clarifies neuronal connectivity behind motor function

Researchers find compromised indoor air in homes following Marshall Fire

Months after Colorado's Marshall Fire, residents of surviving homes reported health symptoms, poor air quality

Identification of chemical constituents and blood-absorbed components of Shenqi Fuzheng extract based on UPLC-triple-TOF/MS technology

'Glass fences' hinder Japanese female faculty in international research, study finds

Vector winds forecast by numerical weather prediction models still in need of optimization

New research identifies key cellular mechanism driving Alzheimer’s disease

Trends in buprenorphine dispensing among adolescents and young adults in the US

Emergency department physicians vary widely in their likelihood of hospitalizing a patient, even within the same facility

Firearm and motor vehicle pediatric deaths— intersections of age, sex, race, and ethnicity

[Press-News.org] Study: Alternate walking and running to save energy, maintain endurance