Gait adaptations in step length and push-off force during walking with functional asymmetry

Abstract

Human walking is highly adaptable, allowing individuals to maintain efficiency and stability across diverse conditions. However, how gait adapts to functional asymmetry remains poorly understood. This study addresses this gap by employing a within-subject design to isolate the effect of functional asymmetry using a unilateral knee constraint to emulate hemiparetic gait. This approach eliminates inter-individual variability present in previous studies. A dataset of 19 participants walking across 30 conditions was used to examine these adaptations in step length and push-off force in both absolute terms and symmetry metrics. Results reveal that functional asymmetry disproportionately impacts p..