Replication Data for: Speeding up, not slowing down, decreases the metabolic energy needed to stabilize walking in the sagittal plane

Data and script for the statistical analysis of the paper: Speeding up, not slowing down, decreases the metabolic energy needed to stabilize walking in the sagittal plane. We applied continuous treadmill belt speed perturbations (standard deviation of 0.13 m/s) to 22 healthy individuals walking at 0.8, 1.2, and 1.6 m/s. We evaluated changes in metabolic energy consumption and balance control strategies between perturbed and unperturbed walking and explored relationships between both. Perturbations induced larger increases in metabolic rate and changes in balance control strategies at slower than faster walking speeds, suggesting that walking is more robust against perturbations at faster speeds. The dataset contains average metabolic rate, the average of step length and width, the standard deviation of step length and step width, and the root mean square of variability in soleus, tibialis, and gastrocnemius muscle activation over the single support phase. All measures were calculated over the last two minutes of perturbed and unperturbed walking trials.