Ever wondered if wearing a backpack could affect the way you walk? Two Humboldt students recently teamed up with Kinesiology Professor Justus Ortega to find out.

Anthropology students Vincent Velasquez (’13) and Tia Meyer (’12) were interested in researching how weight-bearing loads like backpacks affect leg stride and arm swing

"We wanted to determine the relationship between wearing a backpack and body mechanics,” says Ortega, who facilitated the experiments in Humboldt’s Biomechanics Lab. “Does wearing a backpack force you to take shorter, more frequent steps? Does it impede your arm swing?”

Please see the full article in Cal Poly Humboldt|NOW.