The mechanics of head-supported load carriage by Nepalese porters

Author:

Bastien G. J.1,Willems P. A.1,Schepens B.1ORCID,Heglund N. C.1

Affiliation:

1. Institute of Neuroscience, Laboratoire de physiologie et biomécanique de la locomotion, Université catholique de Louvain, Place P. de Coubertin, 1, Louvain-la-Neuve B-1348, Belgium

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the Everest valley of Nepal, because of the rugged mountain terrain, roads are nothing more than dirt paths and all material must be conveyed on foot. The Nepalese porters routinely carry head-supported loads, which often exceed their body mass, over long distances up and down the steep mountain footpaths. In Africa, women transport their loads economically thanks to an energy-saving gait adaptation. We hypothesized that the Nepalese porters may have developed a corresponding mechanism. To investigate this proposition, we measured the mechanical work done during level walking in Nepalese porters while carrying different loads at several speeds. Our results show that the Nepalese porters do not use an equivalent mechanism as the African women to reduce work. In contrast, the Nepalese porters develop an equal amount of total mechanical work as Western control subjects while carrying loads of 0 to 120% of their body mass at all speeds measured (0.5–1.7 m s−1), making even more impressive their ability to carry loads without any apparent mechanically determined tricks. Nevertheless, our results show that the Nepalese porters have a higher efficiency, at least at slow speeds and high loads.

Funder

National Geographic Society

Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS

Université catholique de Louvain

Publisher

The Company of Biologists

Subject

Insect Science,Molecular Biology,Animal Science and Zoology,Aquatic Science,Physiology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Reference30 articles.

1. The burden of the Himalayan porter;Basnyat;High Alt. Med. Biol.,2001

2. The double contact phase in walking children;Bastien;J. Exp. Biol.,2003

3. Energetics of load carrying in Nepalese porters;Bastien;Science,2005

4. Effect of load and speed on the energetic cost of human walking;Bastien;Eur. J. Appl. Physiol.,2005

5. Force platforms as ergometers;Cavagna;J. Appl. Physiol.,1975

Cited by 58 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3