INFLUENCES OF ASYMMETRIC LOAD-CARRYING ON JOINT MOMENTS AND ANGULAR IMPULSES IN LOWER LIMBS

The purposes of this study were to investigate whether angular impulse and pattern of the support moment for each leg change during walking with a load in one-hand, and whether relative contribution of each joint moment in the lower limbs to the support angular impulse changes along with the one-hand load-carrying. Walking with and without a bag were analyzed using a motion-capture system with six cameras and two force plates, then joint moments and angular impulses were calculated. Walking with an asymmetric load resulted in the increased support angular impulse, but no significant difference was found between legs. Hip angular impulses were identical despite of the bag-weight and the stance leg. Knee angular impulse increased with the bag-weight for the ipsilateral side, but not for the contralateral side