User:Jennifer61719/sandbox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Human walking optimization describes gait and musculoskeletal changes that occur as an individual develops a consistent walking pattern. Individuals make these changes to minimize some cost function, which is well-characterized by the energetic cost during steady-state level-ground walking, but can vary in non-steady-state walking and other kinds of locomotion. How and why humans adapt different gaits during locomotion is a common research topic in the fields of biomechanics, terrestrial locomotion, and rehabilitation engineering.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Two_repetitions_of_a_walking_sequence_of_an_individual_recorded_using_a_motion-capture_system.gif/320px-Two_repetitions_of_a_walking_sequence_of_an_individual_recorded_using_a_motion-capture_system.gif)