The connection between anthropometry and gait harmony unveiled through the lens of the golden ratio

•Human anthropometric measures and gait phases are both related to the golden ratio.•The alteration of human anthropometric measures alter the gait phases.•The alteration of mass of body segment does not affect the gait phases.•Golden anthropometric ratios are reflected into golden gait ratios.

In nature, many systems have a harmonic organization due to their fractal structure related to an irrational number called golden ratio. That is a constant proportion found in phases of human gait cycle, and is also found in the lengths of human body segments. In this study we tested if artificial alterations in anthropometric proportions may alter gait proportions. Twenty healthy subjects (29.15 ± 5.66 years) were enrolled in this study and asked to walk normally and with special shoes altering their anthropometric proportions. Further, to test if the relationship between gait phases and anthropometry could be due to the pendular mechanism of walking, subjects were also asked to walk with extra masses located on their shanks. Results showed that the artificial alteration of body segment proportions affected the gait ratio based on the proportion of time between stance and swing (p = 0.015). Conversely, no changes occurred during walking in weighted condition (p = 0.394). These results confirm the connection between anthropometric proportions and gait ratio, and suggest the idea that humans may have evolved into the actual anthropometric proportions for favoring a walking having a golden ratio based harmony, but research is required to verify this hypothesis.

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