Moment acting at the metatarsophalangeal joints during normal barefoot level walking

The functional role of the moments acting at the metatarsophalangeal joints of the foot during bipedal human locomotion is discussed in relation to the time sequence of the foot contact events of the both feet and to the controllability of the angular momentum of the whole body. The moment was measured in normal barefoot level walking for two adult subjects, in both steady state and initiation of walking. The results showed that the maximum metatarsophalangeal moment is as large as one-fifth to one-third of the maximum plantarflexion ankle joint moment. Thus it is demonstrated that the metatarsophalangeal moment plays an important role in controlling the angular momentum of the whole body in the late stage of the single-support phase and early stage of the double support phase.