Gait (human)
locomotion achieved through the movement of human limbs
A gait is a manner of limb movements made during locomotion. Human gaits are the various ways in which humans can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training. Human gait is defined as bipedal forward propulsion of the center of gravity of the human body, in which there are sinuous movements of different segments of the body with little energy spent. Various gaits are characterized by differences in limb movement patterns, overall velocity, forces, kinetic and potential energy cycles, and changes in contact with the ground.
Classification
Human gaits are classified in various ways. Each gait can be generally categorized as either natural (one that humans use instinctively) or trained (a non-instinctive gait learned via training). Examples of the latter include hand walking and specialized gaits used in martial arts. Gaits can also be categorized according to whether the person remains in continuous contact with the ground.
Foot strike
One variable in gait is foot strike – which part of the foot connects with the ground first.
forefoot strike – toe-heel: ball of foot lands first
mid-foot strike – heel and ball land simultaneously
heel strike – heel-toe: heel of foot lands, then plantar flexes to ball
Sprinting typically features a forefoot strike, but the heel does not usually contact the ground.
“Gait (human)” enters the record as locomotion achieved through the movement of human limbs. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Gait, human and locomotion can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1445211. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Gait (human)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.