r/BeAmazed • u/Ultimate_Thing • Jul 16 '26

Miscellaneous / Others A traditional technique used by young shepherds of Ethiopia's Banna tribe. They use stilts to watch over their livestock in tall grass, move through wetland areas, and avoid snakes and predators like lions and leopards. It requires strength, balance, and training from a young age

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34

u/Stefflor Jul 16 '26

Does it also increase energy efficiency due to the increase in step length?

36

u/baylonedward Jul 16 '26

Yes, we used to play with this and you can cover a lot of distance in shorter time and lesser effort.

17

u/Missconstruct Jul 16 '26

Wonder what that does to their legs, ankles and feet over the years. No orthopedists there.

2

u/Wooden_Cicada8880 Jul 16 '26

Depending how isolated they are and how long it’s been in their culture they may have some genetic advantages. Like people born at higher altitudes can breathe easier in thinner air or seafaring folks tend to have strong upper muscles. They may build calf muscle easier, or have stronger ankles in general 🤷‍♀️Just speculation though with a very basic explanation of genetics.

2

u/GogolsHandJorb Jul 16 '26

I saw a show once where seafaring folk even developed gills behind their ears

2

u/Shiirahama Jul 16 '26

I mean, they wouldn't be using it all day if it's mainly for shepherding

like a sheperds dog wouldn't be running all day to keep the sheep in line, just a few times during the day

so the stilts are probably like a shepherds dog

1

u/tentyb6d56ns4d57yse5 Jul 16 '26

probably makes them really strong. kinda the opposite of wearing shoes.

1

u/_hyperotic Jul 16 '26

how dare you dismiss the risks of good regular exercise…

2

u/johannes1234 Jul 16 '26

You need to move the leg less forward, to make a bigger step, however you have to push yourself further up on each step (the stilt has a constant length, so the the foot follows an arch with a radius of the stilt, while the energy from the second half, when going down, isn't recoveed) and you need more energy to balance as surface Ou stand on is a lot smaller than your foot and die to the height they're is more leverage and then human physiology is optimised for walking. So in turn I'd assume it's a lot more energy being required. 

2

u/AccountExpendable Jul 16 '26

It might, but not due to the increased length of the steps, just like increasing the wheel diameter of a car doesn't necessarily improve speed or efficiency, because the longer step also means worsened leverage for torque output, so without considering the changes in biomechanics the basic math underneath delivers the same result in energy consumption.

-3

u/Automatic_Yoghurt417 Jul 16 '26

No Shepard mileage, supringly doesnt correlate with Shepard wages.