Climbing stairs places a greater load on lower limb joints compared to walking on level ground. Variations in anatomical structures and muscle characteristics between genders suggest potential differences in the distribution of required mechanical work among the three lower limb joints. This study aimed to identify gender disparities in the allocation of mechanical work to lower limb joints during stair climbing. A total of thirty-six adults (equally divided between men and women) participated in the study. Participants ascended stairs equipped with force plates at their comfortable speeds, while motion was captured using nine cameras. Inverse dynamics analysis was employed to calculate the mechanical work performed by each joint during four phases of stance: weight acceptance, pull-up, forward continuation, and push-up. Male participants exhibited significantly higher mechanical work than females at the hip and ankle joints (p < 0.05) from the 1st- 3rd phases and the 2nd phase, respectively. Conversely, female subjects displayed greater knee joint work during the 2nd- 3rd phases (p < 0.05). Notably, a pronounced gender difference was observed during the 2nd pull-up phase, where body mass is lifted by a single leg. These findings suggest that men and women employ distinct strategies in distributing mechanical work across lower limb joints.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of gender and foot landing type (forefoot vs. rearfoot landing) on kinematics, kinetics, and energy absorption of lower extremity joint. Twenty males and twenty females performed single-leg landing with two different foot landing types: forefoot landing and rearfoot landing. Three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic parameters were measured using motion capture system. Greater knee valgus angle at peak vertical ground reaction force (p = 0.034) during rearfoot landing increased the risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in females as increasing valgus positioning from neutral alignment could increase the load on ACL. Greater contribution of ankle joint and less contribution of hip joint in energy dissipation were found in females during both forefoot (p = 0.029 and p = 0.016, respectively) and rearfoot landing (p = 0.003 and p = 0.016, respectively). These results suggest that increasing muscular activity of ankle plantarflexor could reduce shock transmission to the proximal joint in females. In addition, greater hip joint’s contribution to total negative work in males induced lower hip flexion angle found in both forefoot and rearfoot landing by elevated activation of the hip extensor. In conclusion, landing strategy differs between genders in both forefoot and rearfoot landing.