The Association Of Habitual Running Patterns And Walking Gait Mechanics.

Running with a mid-foot (MFS) or fore-foot strike (FFS) can result in a proximal to distal shift of muscle power in which there is less contribution of the quadriceps and more of the plantar flexors. This shift is notably reflected by a larger peak PF torque and positive and negative powers compared to rear-footstrike (RFS) running. However, it is unknown if the utilization of more distal joints carries over to a runner's walking gait which is a RFS pattern. PURPOSE: This study investigated the effect of foot-strike patterns utilized during running on walking gait mechanics. METHODS: A subset of data from the 4HAIE study was used to assess the walking mechanics of 12 runners divided based on running mechanics (Table 1). Participants walked overground at their preferred walking speed while kinematics and kinetics were collected. Between-group differences for variables of interest (lower extremity joint moments, ankle joint power, GRFs) were determined using independent t-tests and effect sizes (ES). RESULTS: MFS runners demonstrated greater ankle joint utilization than RFS runners during walking (Table 2). MFS runners generated greater ankle power than RFS runners (p = 0.018, ES = 0.7). Additionally, MFS runners exhibited larger knee flexion and hip extension moments than RFS runners (p = 0.02, ES = 0.7; p = 0.024, ES = 0.7). CONCLUSION: These preliminary findings suggest a potential carryover effect from the utilization of more distal joints in MFS running to walking gait, highlighting a link between running and walking mechanics. Table 1. - Participant Demographics MFS RFS Sex 4F, 2M 3F, 3M Age (years) 33 ± 12 34 ± 11 Mass (kg) 62.88 ± 10.32 71.71 ± 17.80 BMI 22.68 ± 3.12 23.91 ± 3.17 Distance/week (km) (range) 41-50 41-50 Table 2. - Kinetic Variables MFS RFS p Cohen’s d Ankle power (W/kg)* 4.10 ± 0.5 3.16 ± 0.6 0.018 0.7 Plantarflexor moment (Nm/kg) -1.80 ± 0.3 -1.60 ± 0.2 0.14 0.6 Hip extension moment (Nm/kg)* -1.73 ± 0.2 -1.27 ± 0.3 0.024 0.7 Knee flexion moment (Nm/kg)* -0.77 ± 0.1 -0.560 ± 0.2 0.029 0.7 A/P GRF (N/BW) -0.29 ± 0.01 -0.25 ± 0.04 0.062 0.6 vGRF 1st max (N/BW) 1.36 ± 0.13 1.21 ± 0.1 0.069 0.6 *denotes significant difference, p < 0.05 This research was funded by Program 4 HAIE—Healthy Aging in Industrial Environment (grant number: CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000798)