Why Do We Swing Our Arms When We Walk
Olivia Luz
While it takes energy to move our arms this is more than compensated for by the reduced energy needed by the rest of the body to propel itself forward.
Arm swinging improves biomechanical efficiency notice during a walk or run that your limbs are out of phase left leg forward and right arm backward etc. When quadrupeds walk most of them tend to do so with a contralateral gait pattern which does aid their balance when moving at slow walking speeds. We humans swing our arms and legs contralaterally to couterbalance each other. Of them tend to do so with a contralateral gait.
It is natural to try to reduce movement of the head this is why you swing your left arm in time with the right leg and vice versa. Human bipedalism is such a new evolutionary. When your leg moves your body. Swinging our arms while walking is more energy efficient than keeping them still.
Think of it this way your arm is like a pendulum. What i believe is happening is that arm swinging is a neurological. When we run we use our upper limb muscles to swing our arms at a much faster rate than the arms natural frequency. Swinging your arms conserves energy because your arm muscles don t have to do much work when your limbs are swaying.
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The force with which we contact the ground increases by 63 if our arms are in motion. This significantly lowers the effort that we put in during a casual walk. When quadrupeds walk most. Holdover from quadrupedal locomotor patterns.
These movements are handled by the cerebellum a specialised area of the brain.
Source : pinterest.com