Introduction
Many students use backpacks as a means to transport the necessary materials to their class and other locations. (Heuscher, Gilkey, Peel, and Kennedy 2010). preformed a study at CSU with 465 college students, showing that two thirds of all of the college students wore a backpack all of the time that they were at school. There was another study done by( Schwebel, Pitts and Stavrinos 2009) at University of Alabama showing the college students there walk an average of 9 miles a week most of it while wearing a backpack. This is important to our investigation because this shows that there are a high number of people using backpacks every day. There was a study done by Gardner and Hill indicating that wearing a backpack can result in serious injury. In the study done by (Gardner and Hill 2002) the subjects showed muscular-skeletal injuries such as back pain and lower extremity strains. There was a study done by LaFiandra, Wagenaar, Holt, and Obusek (2003) that showed an increase in step frequency and a decrease in step length when walking velocity was fixed. There was another study done by Wang, Frame, Ozimek, Leib, and Dugan (2012) showing that adding the weight of a load may increase the Peak VGRF and the loading rate.
As the number of the public who walk barefoot increase, the large amount of people who wear backpacks will still be there. (Zhang, Paquette and Zhang 2013) preformed a study on the effects of walking with bare feet and found that bare feet mimic the kinetic and ground reaction force effects that running minimalist shoe conditions offer. Seeing as barefoot and minimalist shoe conditions have the relative same effect on the ground reaction forces, this study didn’t add the condition of a minimalist shoe. There has not been any studies done on the topic of the effect of barefoot walking with a weighted load, although there has been significant research done on the topic of walking barefoot in general. A study was done by (Keenan et al 2011) that from barefoot to shod the there was a lower peak vertical ground reaction force. There was a study done by Engelen et al (2010) that showed that walking bare foot and with normal shoes had a few key differences. In the Engelen et al (2010) study the step time increased in from barefoot to shod and the step length decreased from bare foot to shod. There was a study done by Majumdar et al (2006) that showed walking barefooted and walking with a different type of show besides running shoe had some interesting differences.
This study is an important issue because even just walking can result in serious injuries. There was a study done by (Suter, Marti, and Gutzwiller 1994) on the injuries that occurred from walking 8.5 miles a week. In this study it showed that there were injuries to the foot, lower leg/Achilles tendon, knee, upper leg/groin, hips/pelvis and gluteal muscle/back. This indicates that walking can have serious effects on your body.
I hypothesize that adding the additional load of wearing a weighted bag while wearing in barefoot conditions will shorten the stance time even further, due to the fact that objects have more mass propelling them forward. In addition to the shortening of stance time there should be a decrease in step length due to the fact that there is more momentum propelling step length. The body will also have less control and will try to place its foot sooner, resulting in a lower loading rate.
As the number of the public who walk barefoot increase, the large amount of people who wear backpacks will still be there. (Zhang, Paquette and Zhang 2013) preformed a study on the effects of walking with bare feet and found that bare feet mimic the kinetic and ground reaction force effects that running minimalist shoe conditions offer. Seeing as barefoot and minimalist shoe conditions have the relative same effect on the ground reaction forces, this study didn’t add the condition of a minimalist shoe. There has not been any studies done on the topic of the effect of barefoot walking with a weighted load, although there has been significant research done on the topic of walking barefoot in general. A study was done by (Keenan et al 2011) that from barefoot to shod the there was a lower peak vertical ground reaction force. There was a study done by Engelen et al (2010) that showed that walking bare foot and with normal shoes had a few key differences. In the Engelen et al (2010) study the step time increased in from barefoot to shod and the step length decreased from bare foot to shod. There was a study done by Majumdar et al (2006) that showed walking barefooted and walking with a different type of show besides running shoe had some interesting differences.
This study is an important issue because even just walking can result in serious injuries. There was a study done by (Suter, Marti, and Gutzwiller 1994) on the injuries that occurred from walking 8.5 miles a week. In this study it showed that there were injuries to the foot, lower leg/Achilles tendon, knee, upper leg/groin, hips/pelvis and gluteal muscle/back. This indicates that walking can have serious effects on your body.
I hypothesize that adding the additional load of wearing a weighted bag while wearing in barefoot conditions will shorten the stance time even further, due to the fact that objects have more mass propelling them forward. In addition to the shortening of stance time there should be a decrease in step length due to the fact that there is more momentum propelling step length. The body will also have less control and will try to place its foot sooner, resulting in a lower loading rate.