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Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns

World-class marathon runners make initial contact with the rearfoot, midfoot or forefoot. This novel study analyzed kinematic similarities and differences between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers within the men's and women's 2017 IAAF World Championship marathons across the last two laps...

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Autores principales: Hanley, Brian, Bissas, Athanassios, Merlino, Stéphane
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7739599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33345091
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.00102
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author Hanley, Brian
Bissas, Athanassios
Merlino, Stéphane
author_facet Hanley, Brian
Bissas, Athanassios
Merlino, Stéphane
author_sort Hanley, Brian
collection PubMed
description World-class marathon runners make initial contact with the rearfoot, midfoot or forefoot. This novel study analyzed kinematic similarities and differences between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers within the men's and women's 2017 IAAF World Championship marathons across the last two laps. Twenty-eight men and 28 women, equally divided by footstrike pattern, were recorded at 29.5 and 40 km (laps 3 and 4, respectively) using two high-definition cameras (50 Hz). The videos were digitized to derive spatiotemporal and joint kinematic data, with additional footage (120 Hz) used to identify footstrike patterns. There was no difference in running speed, step length or cadence between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers during either lap in both races, and these three key variables decreased in athletes of either footstrike pattern to a similar extent between laps. Men slowed more than women between laps, and overall had greater reductions in step length and cadence. Rearfoot strikers landed with their foot farther in front of the center of mass (by 0.02–0.04 m), with non-rearfoot strikers relying more on flight distance for overall step length. Male rearfoot strikers had more extended knees, dorsiflexed ankles and hyperextended shoulders at initial contact than non-rearfoot strikers, whereas female rearfoot strikers had more flexed hips and extended knees at initial contact. Very few differences were found at midstance and toe-off. Rearfoot and non-rearfoot striking techniques were therefore mostly indistinguishable except at initial contact, and any differences that did occur were very small. The spatiotemporal variables that differed between footstrike patterns were not associated with faster running speeds and, ultimately, neither footstrike pattern prevented reductions in running speeds. The only joint angle measured at a specific gait event to change with fatigue was midswing knee flexion angle in men. Coaches should thus note that encouraging marathon runners to convert from rearfoot to non-rearfoot striking is unlikely to provide any performance benefits, and that training the fatigue resistance of key lower limb muscle-tendon units to avoid decreases in step length and cadence are more useful in preventing reductions in speed during the later stages of the race.
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spelling pubmed-77395992020-12-17 Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns Hanley, Brian Bissas, Athanassios Merlino, Stéphane Front Sports Act Living Sports and Active Living World-class marathon runners make initial contact with the rearfoot, midfoot or forefoot. This novel study analyzed kinematic similarities and differences between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers within the men's and women's 2017 IAAF World Championship marathons across the last two laps. Twenty-eight men and 28 women, equally divided by footstrike pattern, were recorded at 29.5 and 40 km (laps 3 and 4, respectively) using two high-definition cameras (50 Hz). The videos were digitized to derive spatiotemporal and joint kinematic data, with additional footage (120 Hz) used to identify footstrike patterns. There was no difference in running speed, step length or cadence between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers during either lap in both races, and these three key variables decreased in athletes of either footstrike pattern to a similar extent between laps. Men slowed more than women between laps, and overall had greater reductions in step length and cadence. Rearfoot strikers landed with their foot farther in front of the center of mass (by 0.02–0.04 m), with non-rearfoot strikers relying more on flight distance for overall step length. Male rearfoot strikers had more extended knees, dorsiflexed ankles and hyperextended shoulders at initial contact than non-rearfoot strikers, whereas female rearfoot strikers had more flexed hips and extended knees at initial contact. Very few differences were found at midstance and toe-off. Rearfoot and non-rearfoot striking techniques were therefore mostly indistinguishable except at initial contact, and any differences that did occur were very small. The spatiotemporal variables that differed between footstrike patterns were not associated with faster running speeds and, ultimately, neither footstrike pattern prevented reductions in running speeds. The only joint angle measured at a specific gait event to change with fatigue was midswing knee flexion angle in men. Coaches should thus note that encouraging marathon runners to convert from rearfoot to non-rearfoot striking is unlikely to provide any performance benefits, and that training the fatigue resistance of key lower limb muscle-tendon units to avoid decreases in step length and cadence are more useful in preventing reductions in speed during the later stages of the race. Frontiers Media S.A. 2020-08-06 /pmc/articles/PMC7739599/ /pubmed/33345091 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.00102 Text en Copyright © 2020 Hanley, Bissas and Merlino. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Sports and Active Living
Hanley, Brian
Bissas, Athanassios
Merlino, Stéphane
Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title_full Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title_fullStr Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title_full_unstemmed Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title_short Men's and Women's World Championship Marathon Performances and Changes With Fatigue Are Not Explained by Kinematic Differences Between Footstrike Patterns
title_sort men's and women's world championship marathon performances and changes with fatigue are not explained by kinematic differences between footstrike patterns
topic Sports and Active Living
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7739599/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33345091
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2020.00102
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