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The musculoskeletal system in everyday life: Walking up stairs

This is an excerpt from Concise Book of the Moving Body-2nd Edition, The by Chris Jarmey.

Walking up Stairs

As well as walking on the level, we often have to go upstairs, and the demands placed on muscles and limbs over and above what is needed for walking can be too much for some groups of people. One of the greatest changes is the need to move from propelling the body (its CoM) horizontally, as in walking, to maintaining stability with forward, vertical, and side-to-side motion, as we transfer weight from one leg to the other on the stairs. This action requires good mobility at the ankles, knees, and hips and strength in key muscles.

During the first half of ipsilateral leg stance, weight acceptance to pull up, the vastus muscles are the main contributor to raising the body vertically, with help from gluteus maximus and less so from soleus (figure 9.16). Gluteus medius aids the transition to the second half of the stance, forward continuance and push up, in which the triceps surae and vasti muscles supply most of the vertical propulsion, with the hamstrings acting negatively to control the movement (figure 9.17).

Figure 9.16. Muscles contributing (% body weight) to vertical movement in weight acceptance in stair ascent.
Figure 9.16. Muscles contributing (% body weight) to vertical movement in weight acceptance in stair ascent.

Figure 9.17. Muscles contributing (% body weight) to vertical propulsion in forward continuance in stair ascent.
Figure 9.17. Muscles contributing (% body weight) to vertical propulsion in forward continuance in stair ascent.

There are also mediolateral movements as weight is transferred from one leg to the other, which is controlled in the first half of the stance by the vasti muscles and gluteus medius balancing each other, and in the second half of the stance by the hamstrings and adductors balancing gluteus medius.

For older people, climbing stairs can be a problem owing to the strength required in the vasti and gluteal muscles throughout the stair gait cycle. However, joint restrictions can also be a problem, with the ankles, knees, and hips all having to move through a significant range of motion (ROM) compared with walking. In the stance phase of stair ascent, typical ROMs required to walk up a standard 20 cm (8˝) step are hip flexion of 70 degrees, knee flexion of 94 degrees, ankle dorsiflexion of 11 degrees, and ankle plantar flexion of 30 degrees (figure 9.18).

Figure 9.18. Joint angles in stair ascent (°).
Figure 9.18. Joint angles in stair ascent (°).

More Excerpts From Concise Book of the Moving Body 2nd Edition

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