Fig. 1

Illustration of the gait cycle. After heel strike, during the loading response, the ankle plantarflexes in a controlled manner to allow the foot to make a gradual contact with the ground. During mid-stance, the ankle dorsiflexes while the stance leg moves the bodyweight over the forefoot. In the terminal stance, a propulsive force is generated by the ankle plantarflexors to initiate leg swing, generate forward velocity and redirect the body’s center of mass [78, 79]; this phase of the gait cycle is also called push-off. After the toe-off, during swing phase, the ankle dorsiflexes to allow toe clearance and prepare the foot for the next heel strike. Picture is taken from [80]