accounted for by the reduced use of muscle in walking, due to an upright posture which places ground

reaction forces at the hip and knee.[28] When walking bipedally, chimpanzees take a crouched stance
with bent knees and hips, forcing the quadricep muscles to perform extra work and consequently costs
more energy.[29] Comparing chimpanzee quadrupedal travel to that of true quadrupedal animals has
indicated that chimpanzees expend one-hundred and fifty percent of the energy required for travel
compared to true quadrupeds.

In 2007, a study further explored the origin of human bipedalism, using chimpanzee and human
energetic costs of locomotion.[28] They found that the energy spent in moving the human body is less
than what would be expected for an animal of similar size and approximately seventy-five percent less
costly than that of chimpanzees. Chimpanzee quadrupedal and bipedal energy costs are found to be
relatively equal, with chimpanzee bipedalism costing roughly ten percent more than quadrupedal. The
same 2007 study found that among chimpanzee individuals, the energy costs for bipedal and
quadrupedal walking varied significantly, and those that flexed their knees and hips to a greater degree
and took a more upright posture, closer to that of humans, were able to save more energy than
chimpanzees that did not take this stance. Further, compared to other apes, humans have longer legs
and short dorsally oriented ischia (hipbone), which result in longer hamstring extensor moments,
improving walking energy economy.[30][28] It was thought that hominins like Ardipithecus ramidus,
which had a variety of both terrestrial and arboreal adaptions would not be as efficient walkers,
however, with a small body mass A. ramidus had developed an energy efficient means of bipedal
walking while still maintaining arboreal adaptations.[30] Humans have long femoral necks, meaning that
while walking, hip muscles do not require as much energy to flex while moving.[29] These slight
kinematic and anatomic differences demonstrate how bipedal walking may have developed as the
dominant means of locomotion among early hominins because of the energy saved.[28]

The word walk is descended from the Old English wealcan "to roll". In humans and other bipeds, walking
is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground
and there is a period of double-support. In contrast, 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.
For quadrupedal species, there are numerous gaits which may be termed walking or running, and
distinctions based upon the presence or absence of a suspended phase or the number of feet in contact
any time do not yield mechanically correct classification.[2] The most effective method to distinguish
walking from running is to measure the height of a person's centre of mass using motion capture or a
force plate at midstance. During walking, the centre of mass reaches a maximum height at midstance,
while running, it is then at a minimum. This distinction, however, only holds true for locomotion over
level or approximately level ground. For walking up grades above 10%, this distinction no longer holds
for some individuals. Definitions based on the percentage of the stride during which a foot is in contact
with the ground (averaged across all feet) of greater than 50% contact corresponds well with
identification of 'inverted pendulum' mechanics and are indicative of walking for animals with any
number of limbs, although this definition is incomplete.[2] Running humans and animals may have
contact periods greater than 50% of a gait cycle when rounding corners, running uphill or carrying loads.
Speed is another factor that distinguishes walking from running. Although walking speeds can vary
greatly depending on many factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and
fitness, the average human walking speed at crosswalks is about 5.0 kilometres per hour (km/h), or
about 1.4 meters per second (m/s), or about 3.1 miles per hour (mph). Specific studies have found
pedestrian walking speeds at crosswalks ranging from 4.51 to 4.75 km/h (2.80 to 2.95 mph) for older
individuals and from 5.32 to 5.43 km/h (3.31 to 3.37 mph) for younger individuals;[3][4] a brisk walking
speed can be around 6.5 km/h (4.0 mph).[5] In Japan, the standard measure for walking speed is 80
m/min (4.8 km/h). Champion racewalkers can average more than 14 km/h (8.7 mph) over a distance of
20 km (12 mi).

An average human child achieves independent walking ability at around 11 months old.[6]