WATCH ABOVE: This video shows how the exoskeleton works in an experiment designed to study the energy output as a person walks. The second part of the video shows the exoskeleton at work.
TORONTO – You are lazy. But don’t worry: it’s not your fault.
A new study published in the journal Current Biology has found that our nervous systems change the way we move in order to expend as little energy as possible.
The researchers came to this conclusion after conducting an experiment measuring the energetic costs of walking. They believe that these findings translate to other movements we make, not just walking.
“We found that people readily change the way they walk–including characteristics of their gait that have been established with millions of steps over the course of their lifetime–to save quite small amounts of energy,” says Max Donelan of Simon Fraser University in Canada.
The findings may not be all that surprising as often we attempt to use less energy to do other things, such as taking the shortest path to get somewhere on foot or sitting rather than standing, Donelan said.
“Here we have provided a physiological basis for this laziness by demonstrating that even within a well-rehearsed movement like walking, the nervous system subconsciously monitors energy use and continuously re-optimizes movement patterns in a constant quest to move as cheaply as possible,” he said.
READ MORE: 4 ways your digital gadgets are ruining your body
But on the plus side, it means that we’re pretty smart — after all, our bodies do this without us even realizing it.
In the experiment, the researchers equipped subjects with a robotic exoskeleton and had them walk on a treadmill as their energy output was measured. As the subject walked, the researchers made it more difficult for the subjects to walk by putting more resistance on their knees or they made it easier by easing the resistance.
What they found was that, within minutes, people changed their step frequency to reach a new way of expending less energy. And interestingly, it didn’t take much for them to adapt: their body would change just to save 5 per cent of energy.
So next time someone calls you lazy, you can tell them it’s not your fault: you’re wired that way and so are they.
Comments