Thursday 23 August 2012

Research on gait and stride rate


    Some interesting research looking at the effects of muscle activation and stride rate. 
    It effectively shows that an increased stride rate increases eccentric muscle 
    contraction in preparation for ground loading.






  • Elizabeth S. Chumanov
  • Christa M. Wille
  • Max P. Michalski
  • Bryan C. Heiderscheit
   Received 8 June 2011; received in revised form 28 January 2012; accepted 13 February 2012. published    
   online 19 March 2012.
Running with a step rate 5–10% greater than one's preferred can substantially reduce lower extremity joint moments and powers, and has been suggested as a possible strategy to aid in running injury management. The purpose of this study was to examine how neuromuscular activity changes with an increase in step rate during running. Forty-five injury-free, recreational runners participated in this study. Three-dimensional motion, ground reaction forces, and electromyography (EMG) of 8 muscles (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, medial gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior, medial and lateral hamstrings, and gluteus medius and maximus) were recorded as each subject ran at their preferred speed for three different step rate conditions: preferred, +5% and +10% of preferred. Outcome measures included mean normalized EMG activity for each muscle at specific periods during the gait cycle. Muscle activities were found to predominantly increase during late swing, with no significant change in activities during the loading response. This increased muscle activity in anticipation of foot-ground contact likely alters the landing posture of the limb and the subsequent negative work performed by the joints during stance phase. Further, the increased activity observed in the gluteus maximus and medius suggests running with a greater step rate may have therapeutic benefits to those with anterior knee pain.
Keywords: CadenceStep rateRunning




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