walking - Biomechanics, Walking as a leisure activity, Walking as transportation, Walking in robotics

Either a leisurely pursuit, or a competitive sport, also known as race walking. As a sport, both road and track race walking are popular. The rules governing the use of the feet are strict: one foot must be touching the ground at all times, and the lead leg must be straight as it passes under the torso. It has been an Olympic event since 1956, over distances of 20 km (12·4 mi) and 50 km (31 mi). Fell walking is a popular form of leisure activity in the UK.

That term may also refer to a base on balls in baseball or walking (basketball).

Walking is the main form of animal locomotion on land, distinguished from running and crawling.

Walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground: for humans and other bipeds running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. (This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events, often resulting in disqualification even at the Olympic level.) For horses and other quadrupedal species, the running gaits may be numerous, and walking keeps three feet at a time on the ground.

The average child achieves independent walking ability between 9 and 15 months old.

While not strictly bipedal, several primarily bipedal human gaits (where the long bones of the arms support at most a small fraction of the bodies' weight) are generally regarded as variants of walking. walking on crutches (usually executed by alternating between standing on both legs, and rocking forward "on the crutches" (i.e., supported under the armpits by them); walking with one or two walking stick(s) or trekking poles (reducing the load on one or both legs, or supplementing the body's normal balancing mechanisms by also pushing against the ground through at least one arm that holds a long object); and scrambling, using the arms (and hands or some other extension to the arms) not just as a backup to normal balance, but, as when walking on talus, to achieve states of balance that would be impossible or unstable when supported solely by the legs.

For humans, walking is the main form of transportation without a vehicle or riding animal.

Biomechanics

Human walking is accomplished with a strategy called the double pendulum. The process of walking recovers approximately 60% of the energy used due to pendulum dynamics and ground reaction force.

Lumbar motion during walking consists mostly of sideways rotation.

Walking as a leisure activity

Many people walk as a hobby, and in our post-industrial age it is often enjoyed as a form of exercise. The types of walking include bushwalking, racewalking, hillwalking, volksmarching, Nordic walking and hiking on long-distance paths. In some countries walking as a hobby is known as hiking (the typical North American term), rambling (a somewhat dated British expression, but remaining in use because it is enshrined in the title of the important Ramblers' Association), or tramping (the invariable term in New Zealand). Hiking is a subtype of walking, generally used to mean walking in nature areas on specially designated routes or trails, as opposed to in urban environments; More obscure terms for walking include "to go by Marrow-bone stage", "to take one's daily constitutional", "to ride Shank's pony" or "to go by Walker's bus."

The world's largest registration walking event is the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen. Walks are often organized as charity events with walkers seeking sponsors to raise money for a specific cause. Charity walks range in length from 2 mile or 5 km walks to as far as 50 miles (80 km). The MS Challenge Walk is an example of a 50 mile walk which raises money to fight multiple sclerosis.

In Britain, the Ramblers' Association is the biggest organisation that looks after the interests of walkers.

Walking as transportation

Walking is also a common mode of transportation.

When distances are too great to be convenient, walking can be combined with other modes of transportation, such as cycling, public transport, car sharing, carpooling, ride sharing, car rentals and taxis.

Walking in robotics

Teaching robots to walk is surprisingly difficult. The first successful attempts at walking robots tended to have 6 legs. The number of legs was reduced as microprocessor technology advanced, and there are now a number of robots that can walk on 2 legs, albeit not nearly as well as a human being.