Allison H. Gruber

Interaction between age and gait velocity in the amplitude and timing of antagonist muscle coactivation

Old adults execute single-joint voluntary movements with heightened antagonist muscle coactivation and altered timing between agonist and antagonist muscles. It is less clear if old adults adopt similar strategies during the most common form of activity of daily living, gait, and if age and gait velocity interact. We compared antagonist muscle activation amplitude and onset, offset, and activation duration of the vastus lateralis, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius lateralis from surface EMG in 17 young (age 19-25) and 17 old adults (age 71-85) while walking at 1.2, 1.5, and 1.8m/s. All participants were healthy and highly mobile. The activation level of the four muscles when each acted as the antagonist was, on the average, 83% higher in old vs young adults (for each muscle p<0.05). In two of four muscles this activation increased with gait velocity in young but not in old adults. The inter-burst interval between TA and GL was two-fold (83 ms) longer in young vs old adults and at higher gait velocities it became 14% (24 ms) shorter in young but 51% (31 ms) longer in old adults (interaction, p=0.015). It is concluded that there is an interaction between age and gait velocity in the amplitude and timing of antagonist muscle coactivation.

Impact characteristics in shod and barefoot running

Increased impact characteristics are often cited as a cause of running injuries. One method that has been used to reduce impact characteristics is to increase the thickness of the midsole of running footwear with the intention of attenuating greater shock from the foot-ground collision. A second method that has been suggested is to run barefoot. The purpose of this study was to compare the impact characteristics of running footwear of different midsole thickness to a barefoot condition. Three-dimensional kinematic and kinetic data were collected as participants ran at their preferred running speed and at a fixed speed. Impact characteristics (impact peak, time to impact peak and vertical loading rate) were derived from the vertical ground reaction force component. Ankle and knee joint stiffness during the loading phase of support were derived from the change in moment divided by the change in angle. The impact parameters were statistically analyzed using a two-way, repeated measures ANOVA. There were no significant speed by footwear condition interactions. For impact peak, ankle stiffness and knee stiffness, there was no difference among the shod conditions but there were significant differences between the shod and barefoot conditions. Based on their strike index, participants in this study appeared to alter their footfall pattern from a rearfoot to a midfoot pattern when changing from running shod to barefoot. It may be concluded that the change in the impact characteristics is a result of changing footfall pattern rather than midsole thickness.

Lower extremity joint stiffness characteristics during running with different footfall patterns

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the knee and ankle joint stiffness and negative joint work during running when participants utilised their preferred and non-preferred footfall pattern. A total of 40 healthy, young runners (20 habitual forefoot (FF) and 20 habitual rearfoot (RF) runners) served as participants in this study. Three-dimensional data were obtained using a motion capture system and a force platform. The participants completed over-ground trials in each of two conditions: 1. their natural footfall pattern; and 2. their non-preferred footfall pattern. Joint stiffness was calculated by the ratio of the change in joint moment and the change in joint angle during the energy absorption phase of support. Negative joint work was calculated as the integral of the joint power-time curve during the same time interval. It was observed that joint stiffness was different between the footfall patterns but similar for both groups within a footfall pattern. A stiffer knee and a more compliant ankle were found in the FF pattern and the opposite in the RF pattern. Negative work was greater in the ankle and less in the knee in the FF pattern and the reverse in the RF pattern. We conclude that runners, in the short term, can alter their footfall pattern. However, there is a re-organisation of the control strategy of the joint when changing from a FF to a RF pattern. This re-organisation suggests that there is a possible difference in the types of injuries that may be sustained between the FF and the RF footfall patterns.

Economy and rate of carbohydrate oxidation during running with rearfoot and forefoot strike patterns

It continues to be argued that a forefoot (FF) strike pattern during running is more economical than a rearfoot (RF) pattern; however, previous studies using one habitual footstrike group have found no difference in running economy between footstrike patterns. We aimed to conduct a more extensive study by including both habitual RF and FF runners. The purposes of this study were to determine whether there were differences in running economy between these groups and whether running economy would change when they ran with the alternative footstrike pattern. Nineteen habitual RF and 18 habitual FF runners performed the RF and FF patterns on a treadmill at 3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 m/s. Steady-state rates of oxygen consumption (Vo2, ml·kg(-1)·min(-1)) and carbohydrate contribution to total energy expenditure (%CHO) were determined by indirect calorimetry for each footstrike pattern and speed condition. A mixed-model ANOVA was used to assess the differences in each variable between groups and footstrike patterns (α = 0.05). No differences in Vo2 or %CHO were detected between groups when running with their habitual footstrike pattern. The RF pattern resulted in lower Vo2 and %CHO compared with the FF pattern at the slow and medium speeds in the RF group (P < 0.05) but not in the FF group (P > 0.05). At the fast speed, a significant footstrike pattern main effect indicated that Vo2 was greater with the FF pattern than with the RF pattern (P < 0.05), but %CHO was not different (P > 0.05). The results suggest that the FF pattern is not more economical than the RF pattern.

Footfall patterns during barefoot running on harder and softer surfaces

It has been suggested that the development of a thick, soft midsole of running shoes over the past 30 years has been primarily responsible for the majority of runners adopting a rearfoot or heel-toe footfall pattern thus deviating from a more ‘natural’ forefoot pattern. The purpose of this study was to determine the freely chosen footfall pattern when running barefoot on a harder versus a softer surface. Forty habitual rearfoot runners performed two running conditions: barefoot over a harder surface and barefoot over a softer surface. Three-dimensional motion analysis and ground reaction force data were collected to measure the ankle angle, vertical impact peak and strike index. The kinematic and kinetic parameters were used to confirm the footfall pattern in each condition. Only 20% per cent of the participants ran with a midfoot or forefoot pattern on the soft surface whereas 65% of the participants ran with a midfoot or forefoot pattern when running on the hard surface. Out of the 80% of participants that maintained a rearfoot pattern on the soft surface, 43% of these participants ran with a midfoot or forefoot pattern on the hard surface. These results suggest that, while running barefoot, the hardness of the running surface may be a significant factor causing an alteration in a runners footfall pattern.

Time-to-contact and multiscale entropy identify differences in postural control in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Previous reports on changes in postural control in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) compared to healthy controls have been inconsistent. This may suggest center of pressure (COP) sway parameters are not sufficient for determining the ability to maintain quiet upright stance indicating more complex measures may be needed to examine postural control in AIS. The purpose of this investigation was to compare postural control between AIS of different severity levels and healthy controls using time-to-contact (TtC), the complexity index of multiscale entropy (C(r)), and COP sway parameters. Thirty-six AIS patients were classified as pre-bracing or pre-operative and compared to 10 healthy control subjects. Overall, the AIS patients showed significantly greater COP sway in mediolateral direction, but deficits with respect to the anteroposterior direction were only systematically identified with the time-to-contact and entropy measures. The multiscale entropy (C(r)) results indicate that those with AIS utilize a different control strategy from healthy controls in the mediolateral direction that is more constrained, less complex and less adaptable. AIS severity further reduced this adaptability in the anteroposterior direction. These results indicate it is necessary to examine both planes of motion when investigating postural control in AIS. Additionally, the application of the measures used to assess the nature of the postural control changes in AIS should also be considered.

Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners

Some researchers, running instructors, and coaches have suggested that the “optimal” footstrike pattern to improve performance and reduce running injuries is to land using a mid- or forefoot strike. Thus, it has been recommended that runners who use a rearfoot strike would benefit by changing their footstrike although there is little scientific evidence for suggesting such a change. The rearfoot strike is clearly more prevalent. The major reasons often given for changing to a mid- or forefoot strike are (1) it is more economical; (2) there is a reduction in the impact peak and loading rate of the vertical component of the ground reaction force; and (3) there is a reduction in the risk of a running-related injuries. In this paper, we critique these 3 suggestions and provide alternate explanations that may provide contradictory evidence for altering ones footstrike pattern. We have concluded, based on examining the research literature, that changing to a mid- or forefoot strike does not improve running economy, does not eliminate an impact at the foot-ground contact, and does not reduce the risk of running-related injuries.

Are footfall patterns a function of running surface

competitions and reported on 60 5min for a distance of 10 km. All participants ran one round on a 400m track and evaluated shoe comfort and stability on an anchored seven-point perception scale from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest value of stability/comfort) (Hennig et al. 1996). In randomized order four different lacing conditions (Figure 1) in each of three running shoes (Asics, Brooks, Deichmann) were tested. Shoes were tied in two six-eyelet lacings in regular and tight, as well as two lacing patterns up to the 7th eyelet (A57 and ALL). The perceptual variables were analyzed by repeated measures analyses of variances ( p5 0.05).

Transitioning to Minimal Footwear: a Systematic Review of Methods and Future Clinical Recommendations

BackgroundRecent interest in barefoot running has led to the development of minimalist running shoes that are popular in distance runners. A careful transition to these shoes has been suggested and examined in the literature. However, no guidelines based on systematic evidence have been presented.The purpose of this review is to systematically examine the methods employed in the literature to transition to minimal footwear (MFW), as well as the outcomes to these studies in distance runners. In addition, MFW transition guidelines for future clinical practice will be presented based on observations from this review.MethodsA systematic database search was employed using PubMed online as the primary database. Twenty papers were included in the final review.ResultsAll studies implemented a prospective transition design to MFW with a detail of this transition provided, which increased MFW exposure up to an average of 60% (30–100%) at completion. Only 8/20 studies included injury prevention exercises, and 9/20 included gait retraining. The main outcomes of this transition included limited positive evidence of transitioning into MFW for running economy (n = 4 studies) and muscle development (n = 5). The injury incidence comparing running during the MFW transition (17.9 injuries per 100 participants) to matched participants in conventional running shoes (13.4 injuries per 100) appears equivocal (p = 0.219; effect size phi (φ) = 0.06 [very small]). Finally, several important recommendations for clinical practice and future research have been presented.ConclusionsIt is hoped that this paper will present important first steps in unifying the process of transitioning to MFW, both for academic and clinical use.

Comparison of classification methods to determine footfall pattern

dition compared to the indoor shoe condition on turf suggests that the main reason for the increase in performance was due to the increased compliance of the artificial turf. When wearing the same indoor shoes, less peak traction was utilised to accelerate on the turf compared to the lab floor, and even less was utilised when wearing cleats on the turf. It is not clear why maximal effort acceleration required less traction on the artificial turf, especially given that the subjects sprinted faster. The ground reaction impulse data do not explain the performance differences. This study has shown that artificial turf allows athletes to accelerate faster, and that this is likely related to increased surface compliance. However, kinetic data of one foot-strike were unable to further explain the mechanism by which this performance enhancement occurred.