Skip to main content
Advertisement

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

User menu

  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Experimental Biology
  • COB
    • About The Company of Biologists
    • Development
    • Journal of Cell Science
    • Journal of Experimental Biology
    • Disease Models & Mechanisms
    • Biology Open

supporting biologistsinspiring biology

Journal of Experimental Biology

  • Log in
Advanced search

RSS  Twitter  Facebook  YouTube  

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Accepted manuscripts
    • Issue in progress
    • Latest complete issue
    • Issue archive
    • Archive by article type
    • Special issues
    • Subject collections
    • Interviews
    • Sign up for alerts
  • About us
    • About JEB
    • Editors and Board
    • Editor biographies
    • Travelling Fellowships
    • Grants and funding
    • Journal Meetings
    • Workshops
    • The Company of Biologists
    • Journal news
  • For authors
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Aims and scope
    • Presubmission enquiries
    • Article types
    • Manuscript preparation
    • Cover suggestions
    • Editorial process
    • Promoting your paper
    • Open Access
    • Outstanding paper prize
    • Biology Open transfer
  • Journal info
    • Journal policies
    • Rights and permissions
    • Media policies
    • Reviewer guide
    • Sign up for alerts
  • Contacts
    • Contact JEB
    • Subscriptions
    • Advertising
    • Feedback
Research Article
Straight arm walking, bent arm running: gait-specific elbow angles
Andrew K. Yegian, Yanish Tucker, Stephen Gillinov, Daniel E. Lieberman
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb197228 doi: 10.1242/jeb.197228 Published 9 July 2019
Andrew K. Yegian
Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Andrew K. Yegian
  • For correspondence: ayegian@fas.harvard.edu
Yanish Tucker
Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Stephen Gillinov
Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Daniel E. Lieberman
Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Figures & tables
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Stereotypically, walking and running gaits in humans exhibit different arm swing behavior: during walking, the arm is kept mostly straight, while during running, the arm is bent at the elbow. The mechanism for this behavioral difference has not been explored before. We hypothesized that a mechanical tradeoff exists between the shoulder joint and the elbow joint. Bending the elbow reduces the radius of gyration of the arm and reduces shoulder muscle torque, but at the price of increasing elbow torque. We predicted that the mechanical tradeoff would result in energetics that favored straight arms during walking and bent arms during running. The hypothesis was tested experimentally by having eight subjects walk and run with both straight arms and bent arms while recording arm swing mechanics, and oxygen consumption in a subset of six subjects. The mechanical tradeoff hypothesis was confirmed, with bent arms reducing normalized shoulder muscle torque in both gaits (walking: −33%, running: −32%) and increasing normalized elbow muscle torque in both gaits (walking: +110%, running: +30%). Bent arms increased oxygen consumption by 11% when walking, supporting our prediction that energetics favor straight arms during walking. However, oxygen consumption was equivalent for the straight and bent arm running conditions, and did not support our running prediction. We conclude that straight arms are stereotyped in walking as a result of optimal energetics, while the mechanism leading to bent arms during running remains unknown.

FOOTNOTES

  • Competing interests

    The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

  • Author contributions

    Conceptualization: A.K.Y., D.E.L.; Methodology: A.K.Y., Y.T., S.G.; Software: A.K.Y.; Validation: A.K.Y.; Formal analysis: A.K.Y., Y.T., D.E.L.; Investigation: A.K.Y., Y.T., S.G.; Resources: D.E.L.; Data curation: A.K.Y., Y.T., S.G.; Writing - original draft: A.K.Y.; Writing - review & editing: A.K.Y., Y.T., S.G., D.E.L.; Supervision: D.E.L.; Project administration: D.E.L.; Funding acquisition: D.E.L.

  • Funding

    Funding was provided by the Robert A. Chapman Memorial Scholarship for Vertebrate Locomotion (A.K.Y., Harvard University), and the American School of Prehistoric Research (D.E.L., Harvard University).

  • Received November 26, 2018.
  • Accepted May 5, 2019.
  • © 2019. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
http://www.biologists.com/user-licence-1-1/
View Full Text
Previous ArticleNext Article
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

This Issue

Keywords

  • Arm swing
  • Locomotion
  • Biomechanics
  • Gait

 Download PDF

Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Experimental Biology.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Straight arm walking, bent arm running: gait-specific elbow angles
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Experimental Biology
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Experimental Biology web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Research Article
Straight arm walking, bent arm running: gait-specific elbow angles
Andrew K. Yegian, Yanish Tucker, Stephen Gillinov, Daniel E. Lieberman
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb197228 doi: 10.1242/jeb.197228 Published 9 July 2019
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Research Article
Straight arm walking, bent arm running: gait-specific elbow angles
Andrew K. Yegian, Yanish Tucker, Stephen Gillinov, Daniel E. Lieberman
Journal of Experimental Biology 2019 222: jeb197228 doi: 10.1242/jeb.197228 Published 9 July 2019

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Alerts

Please log in to add an alert for this article.

Sign in to email alerts with your email address

Article navigation

  • Top
  • Article
    • ABSTRACT
    • INTRODUCTION
    • MATERIALS AND METHODS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • Acknowledgements
    • FOOTNOTES
    • References
  • Figures & tables
  • Info & metrics
  • PDF

Related articles

Cited by...

More in this TOC section

  • Early developmental stages of native populations of Ciona intestinalis under increased temperature are affected by local habitat history
  • Three auditory brainstem response (ABR) methods tested and compared in two anuran species
  • Differing thermal sensitivities of physiological processes alter ATP allocation
Show more RESEARCH ARTICLE

Similar articles

Subject collections

  • Comparative biomechanics of movement

Other journals from The Company of Biologists

Development

Journal of Cell Science

Disease Models & Mechanisms

Biology Open

Advertisement

Meet the Editors at SICB Virtual 2021

Reserve your place to join some of the journal editors, including Editor-in-Chief Craig Franklin, at our Meet the Editor session on 17 February at 2pm (EST). Don’t forget to view our SICB Subject Collection, featuring relevant JEB papers relating to some of the symposia sessions.


2020 at The Company of Biologists

Despite 2020's challenges, we were able to bring a number of long-term projects and new ventures to fruition. As we enter a new year, join us as we reflect on the triumphs of the last 12 months.


The Big Biology podcast

JEB author Christine Cooper talks to Big Biology about her research. In this fascinating JEB sponsored podcast she tells us how tough zebra finches adjust their physiology to cope with extreme climate events. 


Developmental and reproductive physiology of small mammals at high altitude

Cayleih Robertson and Kathryn Wilsterman focus on high-altitude populations of the North American deer mouse in their review of the challenges and evolutionary innovations of pregnant and nursing small mammals at high altitude.


Read & Publish participation extends worldwide

“Being able to publish Open Access articles free of charge means that my article gets maximum exposure and has maximum impact, and that all my peers can read it regardless of the agreements that their universities have with publishers.”

Professor Roi Holzman (Tel Aviv University) shares his experience of publishing Open Access as part of our growing Read & Publish initiative. We now have over 60 institutions in 12 countries taking part – find out more and view our full list of participating institutions.

Articles

  • Accepted manuscripts
  • Issue in progress
  • Latest complete issue
  • Issue archive
  • Archive by article type
  • Special issues
  • Subject collections
  • Interviews
  • Sign up for alerts

About us

  • About JEB
  • Editors and Board
  • Editor biographies
  • Travelling Fellowships
  • Grants and funding
  • Journal Meetings
  • Workshops
  • The Company of Biologists
  • Journal news

For Authors

  • Submit a manuscript
  • Aims and scope
  • Presubmission enquiries
  • Article types
  • Manuscript preparation
  • Cover suggestions
  • Editorial process
  • Promoting your paper
  • Open Access
  • Outstanding paper prize
  • Biology Open transfer

Journal Info

  • Journal policies
  • Rights and permissions
  • Media policies
  • Reviewer guide
  • Sign up for alerts

Contact

  • Contact JEB
  • Subscriptions
  • Advertising
  • Feedback

 Twitter   YouTube   LinkedIn

© 2021   The Company of Biologists Ltd   Registered Charity 277992