Gait changes with your weight change?

Does a sudden gain in one's weight change their gait? Well, in this study, another form of weight change sure seemed to change the gait of these ladies.

The primary aim of this study was investigate the changes in gait and postural control as factors of stability during walking. Gait and posture of thirty-five (35) pregnant women and the results indicated that there were significant associations noted between:
- step width,
- lateral trunk lean, and
- medio-lateral deviations in center of gravity and center of pressure.

They found among other things, that the lateral trunk lean is the primary factor women use in pregnancy to keep the center of gravity closer to the base of support. "Postural changes and those in gait kinematics were largely affected by the relative mass gain, rather than the absolute mass. Considering the importance of relative mass gain, more attention during healthy pregnancy should be given to monitoring the timing of onset of musculoskeletal changes, and design of antenatal exercise programs targeting core strength and pelvic stability."

We concur, we can see this lateral trunk lean in clients all the time who have challenges in hip-pelvis-core stability in the frontal plane. Stability work, primarily of the hips is critical for these clients. This work often serves pregnancy clients well, it helps to fend off some of the late term pelvis and low back problems as the frontal mass develops.

If this is new information for you, you should head over to our website/blog and start your learning process with the fundamentals of the "cross over gait" because that in essence is what we are talking about here.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29254847

Hum Mov Sci. 2017 Dec 15. pii: S0167-9457(17)30750-9. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2017.12.011. [Epub ahead of print]  Changes in gait and posture as factors of dynamic stability during walking in pregnancy.  Krkeljas Z1.