No 'free ride' for African women: a comparison of head-loading versus back-loading among Xhosa women

Although contrasting evidence exists in the literature as to the economy of head-loading, there is a notion that head-loading is an extremely economical method of load carriage. This has become known as the ‘free ride’ hypothesis and, although untested, it is widely accepted. The purpose of this study was to test the ‘free ride’ hypothesis for head-load carriage among African women by comparing the relative economy of head-loading and back-loading. Twenty-four Xhosa women walked on a level treadmill, attempting to carry loads of between 10% and 70% of their body mass (BM) using both a backpack and a head basket. All 24 women carried at least 25% of their BM in both conditions. The relative economy of load carriage was calculated for loads of 10% to 25% of BM. Results indicated that the ‘free ride’ was not a generalisable phenomenon, with both methods realising economy scores close to unity (1.04 ± 0.19 and 0.97 ± 0.15 for head-loading and back-loading, respectively). The results did, however, reveal significant individual differences in economy scores and it is suggested that analysis of such individual differences in future may well be instructive in understanding mechanisms associated with greater economy in load carriage.

• Publication year

  2010

• Venue

  South African Journal of Science

• Publication date

  2010-03-01

• Fields of study

  Biology, Sociology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.4102/SAJS.V106I3/4.153
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Subjective perceptions of load carriage on the head and back in Xhosa women.

  2010cited by this paper
• Ergonomic effects of load carriage on the upper and lower back on metabolic energy cost of walking.

  2008cited by this paper
• Himalayan porter's specialization: metabolic power, economy, efficiency and skill

  2006cited by this paper
• Influences of body composition upon the relative metabolic and cardiovascular demands of load-carriage.

  2005cited by this paper
• Effect of load and speed on the energetic cost of human walking

  2005cited by this paper
• Energetics of Load Carrying in Nepalese Porters

  2005cited by this paper
• Effect of trunk load on the energy expenditure of treadmill walking and ergometer cycling

  2004cited by this paper
• Effects of load carriage, load position, and walking speed on energy cost of walking.

  2004cited by this paper
• Effects of moderate external loading on the aerobic demand of submaximal running in men and 10 year-old boys

  2004cited by this paper
• Effect of load position on physiological and perceptual responses during load carriage with an internal frame backpack

  2004cited by this paper
• Pendular energy transduction within the step in human walking.

  2002cited by this paper
• Commercial porters of eastern Nepal: Health status, physical work capacity, and energy expenditure

  2001cited by this paper
• PART III: KINANTHROPOMETRY

  2000cited by this paper
• Biomechanical and metabolic effects of varying backpack loading on simulated marching

  2000cited by this paper
• The relative economy of two different rucksack designs

  2000cited by this paper
• Load carriage using packs: a review of physiological, biomechanical and medical aspects.

  1996cited by this paper
• Energy-saving gait mechanics with head-supported loads

  1995cited by this paper
• Metabolic and kinematic responses of African women headload carriers under controlled conditions of load and speed.

  1989cited by this paper
• The 'Free-Ride' Hypothesis: A Second Look at the Efficiency of African Women Headload Carriers

  1989cited by this paper
• Fatness and the energy cost of carrying loads in African women.

  1987cited by this paper
• Changes in oxygen consumption associated with treadmill walking and running with light hand-carried weights.

  1986cited by this paper
• Human energetics: Making headway in Africa

  1986cited by this paper
• Energetic cost of carrying loads: have African women discovered an economic way?

  1986cited by this paper
• Comparison of five modes of carrying a load close to the trunk.

  1985cited by this paper
• Comparison between load carriage and grade walking on a treadmill.

  1983cited by this paper
• Energetic Cost of Generating Muscular Force During Running: A Comparison of Large and Small Animals

  1980cited by this paper
• Cardio-respiratory performance of porters carrying loads on a treadmill.

  1979cited by this paper
• The Physiological Cost of Carrying Loads in Temperate and Hot Environments

  1971cited by this paper
• Energy cost of loads carried on the head, hands, or feet.

  1969cited by this paper

• Effects of load, speed and gradient on physiological responses of rice mill workers in load carrying.

  2025cites this paper
• The consequence of head-loading on the neuro-musculoskeletal health of the ILembe District youth of KwaZulu-Natal

  2022cites this paper
• Evaluating the human capacity of carrying loads without costs: A scoping review of the Free‐Ride phenomenon

  2022cites this paper
• Work for Non-industrial Forest Utilization in Natural Forests

  2022cites this paper
• The energetic, kinematic and kinetic responses to load carried on the back, on the head and in a doublepack

  2021cites this paper
• No sex differences in the economy of load‐carriage

  2020cites this paper
• Inter-individual variability in load carriage economy and comparisons between different load conditions.

  2020cites this paper
• Identification of occupations in a South African rural less-resourced community

  2019cites this paper
• Is water carriage associated with the water carrier’s health? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence

  2018cites this paper
• A comparison of economy and sagittal plane trunk movements among back-, back/front- and head-loading

  2018cites this paper
• Standing economy: does the heterogeneity in the energy cost of posture maintenance reside in differential patterns of spontaneous weight-shifting?

  2017cites this paper
• Posture Allocation Revisited: Breaking the Sedentary Threshold of Energy Expenditure for Obesity Management

  2017cites this paper
• The reliability of the Extra Load Index as a measure of relative load carriage economy

  2017cites this paper
• Problems with Biogas Implementation in Developing Countries from the Perspective of Labor Requirements

  2016influential citation
• Improving the energy system for a rural community in developing countries: Challenges and sustainable opportunities in using renewable energy resources in Ethiopia

  2016cites this paper
• THE EFFECTS OF MASS LOADING DISTRIBUTION ON WALKING ENERGETICS

  2015cites this paper
• Forms, function, and use of Early Eneolithic pottery and settlement structures from ZgornjeRadvanje, Slovenia

  2015influential citation
• Health impacts of pedestrian head-loading: a review of the evidence with particular reference to women and children in sub-Saharan Africa.

  2013cites this paper
• A kinetic comparison of back-loading and head-loading in Xhosa women

  2011cites this paper
• Towards a neck injury prevention helmet for head-first impacts : a mechanical investigation

  2011cites this paper
• Biomechanical differences associated with two different load carriage systems and their relationship to economy

  2011cites this paper
• The Extra Load Index as a method for comparing the relative economy of load carriage systems

  2010cites this paper
• Link to Leeds Beckett Repository record:

  year unknowninfluential citation
• Citation for Published Item

  year unknowncites this paper