How do humans run faster ?

Runners appear to use two different strategies to increase their speed according to this article we are appreciating by Dorn, Schache and Pandy

In specific observance of the lower limb muscles,
"Humans run faster by increasing a combination of stride length and stride frequency. In slow and medium-paced running, stride length is increased by exerting larger support forces during ground contact, whereas in fast running and sprinting, stride frequency is increased by swinging the legs more rapidly through the air". . . . .
"For speeds up to 7ms–1, the ankle plantarflexors, soleus and gastrocnemius, contributed most significantly to vertical support forces and hence increases in stride length. At speeds greater than 7ms–1, these muscles shortened at relatively high velocities and had less time to generate the forces needed for support. Thus, above 7ms–1, the strategy used to increase running speed shifted to the goal of increasing stride frequency. The hip muscles, primarily the iliopsoas, gluteus maximus and hamstrings, achieved this goal by accelerating the hip and knee joints more vigorously during swing."

Muscular strategy shift in human running: dependence of running speed on hip and ankle muscle performance
Tim W. Dorn, Anthony G. Schache and Marcus G. Pandy*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. The Journal of Experimental Biology 215, 1944-1956
© 2012. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd
doi:10.1242/jeb.064527

Running cadence doesn't matter? Maybe.

Does running cadence matter? Not as much as previously thought (in terms of speed and efficiency, but this is not a comment on altering biomechanics to avoid or manage running through injury. One of the first things we ask of a runner, who insists they will be running with their injury while we attempt to get ahead of it, is to increase their cadence and land with more finesse (if they are a heavy "plunker", which often happens on longer runs when people fatigue).

“Some ran at 160 steps per minutes and others ran at 210 steps per minute, and it wasn’t related at all to how good they were or how fast they were,” Burns said. “Height influenced it a little bit, but even people who were the same height had an enormous amount of variability.”

"Another unexpected finding is that by the end of a race, cadence varied much less per minute, as if the fatigued runner’s body had locked into an optimal steps-per-minute turnover. It’s unclear why, Burns said, but this deserves further study."

https://news.umich.edu/step-it-up-does-running-cadence-matter-not-as-much-as-previously-thought/?fbclid=IwAR07mIPxVEPXlkkXoU-XxyCIQY7MwfpX0HHXW7lxMqrcx69ZHHjLO1SxPXw

Podcast 143: Future of movement, Running Cadence. Plus: gait rehab, eye control, plantar fascia talk

Topics:


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Our website is all you need to remember. Everything you want, need and wish for is right there on the site.
Interested in our stuff ? Want to buy some of our lectures or our National Shoe Fit program? Click here (thegaitguys.com or thegaitguys.tumblr.com) and you will come to our websites. In the tabs, you will find tabs for STORE, SEMINARS, BOOK etc. We also lecture every 3rd Wednesday of the month on onlineCE.com. We have an extensive catalogued library of our courses there, you can take them any time for a nominal fee (~$20).

Our podcast is on iTunes and just about every other podcast harbor site, just google "the gait guys podcast", you will find us.

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Show notes:

The future of human movement control ?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-01/zuckerberg-funds-wireless-mind-control-using-game-changing-brain-implants

Really interesting study: in-race cadence data from world 100K champs. Fatigue matters less than expected;
https://www.outsideonline.com/2377976/stop-overthinking-your-running-cadence?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=onsiteshare

A new study shows a majority (82%) of adolescent patients presenting with FAI syndrome can be managed nonoperatively, with significant improvements in outcome scores at a mean follow-up of two years: ow.ly/GXtC30n49nc pic.twitter.com/dyr4f6pEOU

Gait Rehab
https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/88/12/1460/2742171
" Rehabilitation of gait in PSP should also include oculomotor training because the ability to control eye movements is directly related to the control of gait and safe ambulation. Vision plays a critical role in the control of locomotion because it provides input for anticipatory reactions of the body in response to constraints of the environment. Anticipatory saccades occur normally in situations that involve changing the direction of walking17 or avoiding obstacles.18 When downward saccades are not frequently generated during obstacle avoidance tasks, there is an increase in the risk for falling. Di Fabio et al19 reported that elderly people at a high risk for falling generated fewer saccades than their low-risk counterparts during activities involving stepping over obstacles. In addition, foot clearance trajectories were asymmetric in the high-risk group, with the lag foot trajectory being significantly lower than the lead foot trajectory. Similar behavior has been observed in patients with PSP during stair-climbing activities. Di Fabio et al20 recently reported that patients with severe oculomotor limitations had a lower lag foot trajectory than those with mild oculomotor limitations. "

Eye movements:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4932064/
" The content of the eye movement program was as follows: First, a picture card was shown to the patient, and then mixed with 20 other cards and spread face up on the desk. The patient was instructed to find that one card. This task was repeated approximately 20 times. Second, the therapist moved a baton slowly while drawing curves and the patient was instructed to keep his or her gaze fixed on the tip of the baton. In this task, the distance between the baton and the patient was maintained at approximately 1 m and the task was performed for approximately five minutes. Third, the patient was instructed to shake his or her head laterally as quickly as possible and a letter card with letters written upside down was presented to the patient to read. This task was repeated approximately 10 times. Fourth, the therapist moved a baton slowly from a point approximately 5 cm away from the patient to a point approximately 50 cm away and the patient was instructed to keep his or her eyes on the baton. This task was performed for approximately five minutes. The experimental group underwent eye movement training while the control group underwent gait training for 20 minutes per session, five times per week for six months in total."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3259492/

Plantar fascia loads higher when forefoot striking . . . .
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021929018308959
Foot arch deformation and plantar fascia loading during running with rearfoot strike and forefoot strike: A dynamic finite element analysis
Tony Lin-WeiChen et al

High pronation was associated with 20-fold higher odds of injury than neutral foot posture
Association between the Foot Posture Index and running related injuries: A case-control study
AitorPérez-Morcillo et al
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268003318304303

movement, gait, thegaitguys, running, cadence, step length, stride length, eye movements, rehab, gait analysis, gait problems, pronation, plantar fascia,

Music to my ears. Movement to my steps...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music

"The applicable contribution of these novel findings is that music tempo could serve as an unprompted means to impact running cadence. As increases in step rate may prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of common running-related injuries, this finding could be especially relevant for treatment purposes, such as exercise prescription and gait retraining."

Van Dyck E, Moens B, Buhmann J, Demey M, Coorevits E, Dalla Bella S, Leman M. Spontaneous Entrainment of Running Cadence to Music Tempo. Sports Med Open. 2015;1(1):15. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

link to free full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4526248/

image credit: http://pressplay.pbworks.com/w/page/82954552/Loebner%20Keith%20HW%203

Flip Flops not so bad? We still think they suck and here's why...

We have talked about the dangers of open back shoes (Including flip-flops)  and loss of ankle rocker as well as changes in forefoot rocker and great toe dorsiflexion on our blog many times.

The findings of this study, with slower cadence and shortened stance are not surprising (especially since you need to fire your long flexors to keep them on!) nor are ankle joint kinematics (flip flops have no heel counter and are not torsionally rigid, so naturally there would be increseased subtalar motion), however we really question the interpretation.

 "Many have long suspected the answer, but a new study would appear to resolve the question: Are flip flops really that bad for your feet? According to Chen and colleagues from the Department of Biomedical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, flip flops are most likely no better than barefoot when it comes to lower-limb co-contraction and joint contact force in the ankle. The authors had hypothesized that the popular rubber footwear would increase co-contraction of the muscles between the knee and ankle joints in what they thought was a compensatory mechanism for the unstable foot–sole interface and would affect gait kinematics and kinetics.

In the study, the researchers had 10 healthy males perform 6 walking trials under 3 conditions: barefoot, sports shoes, and thong-type flip flops. Participants, who reported they were not “regular flip flop wearers,” were fitted with numerous markers that were monitored while they walked on a 10-meter pathway. The study looked at several muscle pairings that stabilize the knee, ankle, and subtalar joints, including vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius medialis; vastus lateralis and biceps femoris; and peroneus longus and tibialis anterior.

In pairwise comparisons, the walking velocity of flip flops was lower than that of sports shoes (p<0.01) but comparable to barefoot (p>0.05), findings that were consistent with the published literature. Although not significant, the minimalist footwear produced a slower cadence and shortened stance phase in walking trials compared to the other 2 types of footwear. Joint kinematics differed significantly in the ankle joint (F[2,18]=6.73, P<.05) and subtalar joint (F[2,18]=4.45; P<.05); Furthermore, ankle and subtalar range of motion was higher for flip flops than for sports shoes. However, co-contraction was not enhanced. The authors propose that walking speed does not need to be consistent for real-world activities and the slower speed could be a natural approach to avoid injury.

The authors conclude that the slowed walking speed of flip flop users could account for the comparable joint biomechanics between flip flop use and barefoot. They note, however, that, for injury prevention, the closed-toe design of the sports shoe would provide better support for joint motion and loading compared to the other 2 options."

Source:

Chen TL, Wong DW, Xu Z, Tan Q, Wang Y, Luximon A, Zhang M. Lower limb muscle co-contraction and joint loading of flip-flops walking in male wearers. PLoS One. 2018;13(3):e0193653."

image and article source: http://lermagazine.com/issues/may/flip-flops-bare-feet-or-sports-shoes-which-are-best-and-which-are-worst

Swing matters, too.

We speak often about the 3 foot rockers, with particular attention often to ankle rocker (ankle mortise). But one must not forget about the rear and forefoot rockers, they have their important place as well.
But, we all too often only think of these parameters when the foot is on the ground.  The truth is, the swing limb is very important as well. How we swing, how the foot prepares for initial contact is also critical. 

Last week Ivo wrote about toe walkers, a topic we have written about several times previously on our blog "The Gait Guys". 

In this study, the researchers were appearing to look at plantarflexion posturing of the foot-ankle complex. the noted that"unilateral restricted ankle motion influenced kinematics mainly in the swing phase" as we proposed. Again, swing phase is just as critical as the stance phase of gait.  One might recall our mnemonic, "when the foot is on the ground, the glutes are in charge, and when the foot is in the air, the abdominals are in charge". This admittedly is a very loose statement, but it has its place to begin the dialogue. Meaning, there is more to it.  Yes, the hip flexors are key, but they have to be active on a precursor, sufficient control of the pelvis, via the abdominals in part.  To this point, the researchers noted that, "hip and knee peak flexion in the swing phase were increased on the restricted side". Meaning, that to clear a plantarflexed foot-ankle complex, one might have to accentuate flexion elsewhere.  No rocket science here. This is the "foot drop" strategy most of us are all to familiar with. People with foot drop have an inability to dorsiflex the ankle to clear the ground in swing, thus, to avoid tripping, one has to flex the limb higher up the chain, perhaps even hike the pelvis with the opposite leg hip abductors (plus a little frontal plane lean perhaps). This article however discusses restrictions, and not what we just discussed, loss of function. 

Furthermore, "Walking with unilateral restricted ankle motion had a negative effect on walking velocity, cadence, step time, and step length."

Gait Posture. 2015 Mar;41(3):835-40. 
Immediate effects of unilateral restricted ankle motion on gait kinematics in healthy subjects.  Romkes J1, Schweizer K2.
 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25800648

Podcast 116: Running Cadence & Tricks

Key tag words:
running, cadence, form, running form, running tricks, gait, gait analysis, the gait guys, CRISPR, brain implants, spinal regeneration, coordination

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Key tag words:
running, cadence, form, running form, running tricks, gait, gait analysis, the gait guys, CRISPR, brain implants, spinal regeneration, coordination
 
Show sponsors:
 
www.thegaitguys.com
That is our website, and it is all you need to remember. Everything you want, need and wish for is right there on the site.
Interested in our stuff ? Want to buy some of our lectures or our National Shoe Fit program? Click here (thegaitguys.com or thegaitguys.tumblr.com) and you will come to our websites. In the tabs, you will find tabs for STORE, SEMINARS, BOOK etc. We also lecture every 3rd Wednesday of the month on onlineCE.com. We have an extensive catalogued library of our courses there, you can take them any time for a nominal fee (~$20).
 
Our podcast is on iTunes, Soundcloud, and just about every other podcast harbor site, just google "the gait guys podcast", you will find us.
 
Show Notes:

Human patient treated with CRISPR gene editing for the first time.
http://www.popsci.com/crispr-tested-in-human-patient-for-first-time

For the First Time, a Wireless Brain Implant Has Enabled Paralysed Primates to Walk Again
http://www.sciencealert.com/for-the-first-time-a-wireless-brain-implant-has-enabled-paralysed-primates-to-walk-again

Scientists May Have Found Protein That Could Help Unlock Spinal Regeneration in Humans
http://futurism.com/scientists-may-have-found-protein-that-could-help-unlock-spinal-regeneration-in-humans/

Cadence:
"Coordination variability decreased with an increase in cadence across all couples and phases of gait. These results suggest examination of coordination and its variability could give insight into the risk of intervention-induced injury."

Hafer JF, Freedman Silvernail J, Hillstrom HJ, Boyer KA. Changes in coordination and its variability with an increase in running cadence. J Sports Sci. 2016 Aug;34(15):1388-95. doi: 10.1080/02640414.2015.1112021. Epub 2015 Nov 20.

http://www.thegaitguys.com/thedailyblog/2016/10/16/music-to-my-earsand-steps-to-my-cadence

http://www.thegaitguys.com/thedailyblog/2016/10/16/step-rate-to-change-foot-strike

http://www.thegaitguys.com/thedailyblog/2016/10/16/cadence
-cadence and running. Increasing it as little as 5% seems to decrease vertical loading rates in the achilles tendon.

Music to my ears....and steps to my cadence

image credit: http://www.holabirdsports.com/blog/which-type-of-music-is-best-for-running/

This piece is a little different. More of an essay or narrative. We hope you enjoy it...

It was 12° when I woke up. It was mid October and fall is in full swing with the leaves still turning and left on many trees. I looked at the thermometer and it read 12°. When I looked outside I could see that 2 to 3 inches of fresh snow had fallen. Electing not to ride my bike because of the slipperiness of the snow on the roads, I donned my Altra’s and headed out for a run. I grabbed my iPod on my way out the door and queued up Nickelback's "All the Right Reasons".

It's amazing how much music can influence your work out. "Follow You Home" came on came on just as I approached the first hill. The song has a relatively strong beat which made me work harder to get up. This made me think of how much cadence can be influenced by music (1-3) and a few pieces we wrote on music therapy. 

Faster cadences have been associated with shorter step length and decreased vertical impact loading rates, in other words less force and theoretically at least, less injuries (4,5) . 

The snow was soft and forgiving beneath my feet and despite wearing tights and two layers on top, I was quite comfortable. “ Fight for All the right reasons" came on as I started my first set of lunges. I could feel my pace again matching the music.

I was making "first tracks of the season" in the snow. That brought a smile to my face. It was quiet and peaceful (except for my music through the headphones of course) and it was feeling like the beginning of a great run. I begin my ascent of the second large hail and “Photograph” came on which made me think about all things high school and brought a smile to my face. I wondered about some of the people I dated as well as a few that I probably should have dated and those that I definitely should not have dated :-)

My run continued, quite well I might add, with some quick intervals of lunges and squats throughout. “Next Contestant” finished up by brief workout as I came down the home stretch. Another smile came to my face as I know what my next blog piece would be about : )

If you just want the bullet, then here it is: “The applicable contribution of these novel findings is that music tempo could serve as an unprompted means to impact running cadence. As increases in step rate may prove beneficial in the prevention and treatment of common running-related injuries, this finding could be especially relevant for treatment purposes, such as exercise prescription and gait retraining.

• Music tempo can spontaneously impact running cadence.
• A basin for unsolicited entrainment of running cadence to music tempo was discovered.
• The effect of music tempo on running cadence proves to be stronger for women than for men.”

1. Van Dyck E, Moens B, Buhmann J, et al. Spontaneous Entrainment of Running Cadence to Music Tempo. Sports Medicine - Open. 2015;1:15. doi:10.1186/s40798-015-0025-9. link to full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4526248/

2. Lima-Silva AE, Silva-Cavalcante MD, Pires FO, Bertuzzi R, Oliveira RS, Bishop D.  Listening to music in the first, but not the last, 1.5 km of a 5-km running trial alters pacing strategy and improves performance. Int J Sports Med. 2012 Oct;33(10):813-8. Epub 2012 May 16.

3. Bacon CJ, Myers TR, Karageorghis CI. Effect of music-movement synchrony on exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2012 Aug;52(4):359-65.

4. Baggaley M, Willy RW, Meardon S. Primary and secondary effects of real-time feedback to reduce vertical loading rate during running Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2016 Mar 19. doi: 10.1111/sms.12670. [Epub ahead of print].

5. Lyght M, Nockerts M, Kernozek TW, Ragan R. Effects of Foot Strike and Step Frequency on Achilles Tendon Stress During Running. J Appl Biomech. 2016 Aug;32(4):365-72. doi: 10.1123/jab.2015-0183. Epub 2016 Mar 8.

Step rate to change foot strike?

Do you do gait retraining? Have you thought about manipulating step rate to change foot strike? If not, you may want to check this out. 

"The intent of our study was to determine whether step-rate manipulation alone was enough to change foot-strike pattern in shod recreational distance runners. We found increasing step rate above the runner’s preferred rate by 10% was successful in changing foot-strike pattern from a heel-strike to a midfoot- or forefoot-strike pattern in 17.5% of the runners, while increasing step rate by 15% changed foot strike pattern in 30%. These results suggest step-rate manipulation alone may be an effective way to change foot-strike pattern in a small percentage of shod distance runners."

http://lermagazine.com/…/step-rate-manipulation-and-foot-st…

Cadence?

More on cadence and running. Increasing it as little as 5% seems to decrease vertical loading rates in the achilles tendon. How can you do that? How about some music or a metronome?

"Rearfoot strike patterns had less peak AT stress (P < .001), strain (P < .001), and strain rate (P < .001) compared with the forefoot strike pattern. A reduction in peak AT stress and strain were exhibited with a +5% preferred step frequency relative to the preferred condition using a rearfoot (P < .001) and forefoot (P=.005) strike pattern. "

Lyght M, Nockerts M, Kernozek TW, Ragan R. Effects of Foot Strike and Step Frequency on Achilles Tendon Stress During Running. J Appl Biomech. 2016 Aug;32(4):365-72. doi: 10.1123/jab.2015-0183. Epub 2016 Mar 8.

Another way to alter loading rates and potentially reduce injuries?

How about providing something a simple as visual and auditory cues?

In his particular study they cued people to either
1. Forefoot strike
2. Decrease average vertical loading by 15% or
3.Decrease step length by 7-1/2 per cent (ie increase step frequency)

All 3 decreased eccentric knee joint work; but increased ankle joint work. Forefoot strike as well as cues to decrease average vertical loading (which would cause you to forefoot strike) increased ankle joint work. I guess that if you steal from Peter you need to pay Paul! Decreasing step length had no adverse effects.

What are you trying to accomplish? If it is decreased knee joint loading, such as in patients with patellofemoral problems, then this could be a very good thing. If you have a patient with a raging achilles tendinitis, then perhaps not.

Having someone decrease their step length (effectively increasing their cadence) can be one of the safest ways to decrease vertical loading rates.

Baggaley M, Willy RW, Meardon S. Primary and secondary effects of real-time feedback to reduce vertical loading rate during running Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2016 Mar 19. doi: 10.1111/sms.12670. [Epub ahead of print].

Usain… Again!!! How good are your powers of observation?

Take a look at this video again. Yes, we have shown it many times before. It is from a 2001 race in Monaco.

These are all incredible athletes. What can we note about the fastest of the fast?

• Most of them have excellent hip extension (ok, the gent immediately to Usain’s right does not appear to be optimal)
• the fastest of the pack have a upright head posture with the neck neutral or in slight extension (gents in lanes 1, 3 and 6; notice the head forward posture of the others)
• minimal heel rebound (see our last post on this here)
• minimal torso motion (note the increased torso motion  with arm swing of the gents in lanes 1, 3, 4 and 5)
• symmetrical hip flexion, with the thigh parallel or nearly parallel to the ground in float phase
• what else?

Watch it a few more times. It took us a while too…

Really, go watch it again…

Did you see it?

Watch the vertical oscillation of the runners. At this level (or any level for that matter), outside of improving biomechanics and neuromechanics, there are really only a few things you can do to run faster. One is to have a faster cadence and another is to have a longer stride length. You can control both, but if not done concurrently, one gets better at the expense of the other.

If your cadence is slower and you try and increase stride length, you increase your vertical oscillation (ie: how much you bounce up and down). Note the handrail at the far side of the track. It makes a convenient marker for vertical oscillation. Watch this bar and watch the video again. Usain and the gent in lane 6 (Nesta Carter) have little vertical oscillation compared to the rest of the pack. Note also the close finish. difficult to say if Usain’s knee or Carters foot crossed 1st. Usiain’s time was 9.88 and Nesta’s 9.90.

Decreased cadence = Increased vertical oscillation = Less horizontal motion = Slower speeds

How about watching this video a few more times and telling us what else is up?

The Gait Guys. We are trying to help you improve your powers of observation while stretching your mind. Are we succeeding? We hope so!

Ivo and Shawn

Podcast 48: Running Tech, Cadence and Running Shoes

Podcast 48 is live !  Topics: new gait and running technologies, general gait and running talk, generation slow-poke, cadence and barefoot, mixing up your running shoes, a case of hallux rigidus and more !  Join us for another podcast here on The Gait Guys !

A. Link to our server:

http://thegaitguys.libsyn.com/podcast-48-running-tech-cadence-and-running-shoes

B. iTunes link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gait-guys-podcast/id559864138

C. Gait Guys online /download store (National Shoe Fit Certification and more !) :

http://store.payloadz.com/results/results.aspx?m=80204

D. other web based Gait Guys lectures:

www.onlinece.com   type in Dr. Waerlop or Dr. Allen,  ”Biomechanics”

________________________________________

* Today’s show notes:

Neuroscience piece

 

1. The Sproutling: Why A Fitbit For Babies Might Be Brilliant

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3019806/the-sproutling-why-a-fitbit-for-babies-might-be-brilliant?partner=rss

2.Coming Soon: Workout Gear That Monitors Your Muscles

http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/these-smart-gym-clothes-are-the-future-of-wearable-computers/

 

3. Micromovements hold hidden information about severity of autism

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/12/131202171813.htm

4 Gait Factoid:

Q: Why do the two of us focus on gait so much ?  

A: Because it is such a deeply primary motor pattern that it is all encompassing.  

5. in the media this week:

Generation slowpoke? Kids don’t run as fast as parents once did, study finds - TODAY.com
http://www.today.com/moms/generation-slowpoke-kids-dont-run-fast-parents-once-did-study-2D11603599

6. CADENCE and BAREFOOT

http://lowerextremityreview.com/editor_memo/out-on-a-limb-benefit-without-bare-feet

7. In the media:

Can mixing up the running shoes prevent overuse running injury? | Running Research Junkie

http://www.runresearchjunkie.com/can-mixing-up-the-running-shoes-prevent-overuse-running-injury/

8. http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/hugs-sweat-cheers

 

9. From a Blog reader:

Hello the gait guys. I have over pronated rigid cavus along with hallux rigidus on my feet (also had one failed surgery for hallux rigidus on right foot). Having really hard time to be on my feet as well as find shoes and use orthotics. Due to the rigidity of my feet orthotics I’’ve been given create pain I can’t bear and mostly push medial side of my feet. Also without orthotics it is not much better - getting constant pain in my feet and knees. What would be your advise in my situation?Thanks

Disclaimer 

10. From a blog reader

Question: when my feet point straight my knees point outward from my body. I’ve heard it called external femoral torsion. Is this correct? Also is there any type of PT/stretching I can do to correct this? Would love to get things straightened out (no pun intended).

11 . National Shoe Fit Program

http://lowerextremityreview.com/article/multiple-factors-affect-running-shoe-selection

What Does Changing your Stride Cost You?

http://running.competitor.com/2013/09/training/study-changing-running-stride-does-more-harm-than-good_41136

A recent study cited in Competitor Magazine, talked about common stride “improvements” actually may reduce running economy. They looked at stride rate (cadence) and vertical displacement. One would think, with all the hoopla out there, that more steps per minute and less vertical displacement would be more efficient. The actual study concluded “Alterations led to an increase in metabolic cost in most cases, measured as VO2 uptake per minute and kg body mass,” Another study which had similar results can be found here.

Even though the study had a small sample size (16 participants), If you think about this, it makes sense.   Volitional effort usually has a metabolic cost. It does not make it right or wrong; they are just the facts. The nervous system will take time to integrate new (motor) patterns. Each person has a optimal (homestatic) stride “style” which includes vertical displacement as well as stride length, among other factors (lateral sway, ankle dorsi pantar flexion, knee flexion, thigh flexion, etc).

The study itself also concluded ““Mid- and long-term effects of altering … technique should also be studied.” we concur, we have not seen any long term studies that look at economy over time, but would love to read them if any of our readers run across them.

The Gait Guys.  Bringing you the facts without the bling.

Speed Matters: Brief Thoughts on Gait and Running.

The journal article below sparked a few thoughts for a blog post today.

Have you ever tried to walk slower than your normal pace ? How about running slower than your normal pace (  you know, running with that person who is clearly a minute slower pace) ? Why are both so uncomfortable and labor intensive ? Why does your balance, energy and stability become challenged ? After all, slower should be easier right ?!
There are many reasons and this study hints at a few issues but the bottom line is that speed matters.  Have you ever been driving down the road and you see a big pot hole in the road that you just cannot get around because it is either too big or you do not have time to steer around it ?  What is your first reaction ?  Many will press down on the gas pedal. Why is that ? Well, logic for many is that speeding up will possibly enable you to launch across the void and reduce the impact issues of dropping down into the void.  Men will rationalize the “launch across the pothole” theory, and in some respects they are not wrong.

Running and walking slowly sort of bring out some of the same issues.  When we move slowly the body is more likely to drift into the frontal/coronal (side to side) plane.  Moving more quickly ensures that the dominant path is forward. Slowing down does not ensure that forward will occur. side to side sway enters the picture. And when side to side sway enters as an option we have to spend more time and strategies negotiating the side sway.  This is why we see all kinds of corrections with the limbs and core when we attempt to stand on one foot, but we do not see these issues when we walk or run.  When running we are mostly trying to get the next foot underneath our body so that we do not fall forward flat on our face. Locomotion is a strategy of nothing more than trying to stay upright.  When we run the predominant motion is forward. But when we slow down and reduce the advantage of speed to blur out these issues the challenges begin and other planes of movement become an option and thus planes we need to control. It is much why the elderly have more difficulty moving about, because they have to negotiate and control so many other planes of movement.
So, if you want to bring out some faulty motor patterns, move more slowly and see where your deficits lie. One of our assessments for patients and athletes is to have them walk at a 3second pace meaning each foot fall must be held for 3 seconds before the next step can be initiated. This means stance and swing must be slowed to 3 seconds.  Amazing things will show up if you just slow things down and allow weaknesses to percolate to the surface.  Speed blurs them and keeps them suppressed. It is really a form of cheating and compensation.
So, like in your car, speed matters.
Think about this next time you have to walk or run with a slower person. It may be one of the issues, but there are others and we will eventually get to them.


Gait and Speed on Child Development

J Biomech. 2008;41(8):1639-50. Epub 2008 May 7. The effect of walking speed on the gait of typically developing children. Schwartz MH, Rozumalski A, Trost JP. Abstract

Many gait studies include subjects walking well below or above typical self-selected comfortable (free) speed. For this reason, a descriptive study examining the effect of walking speed on gait was conducted. The purpose of the study was to create a single-source, readily accessible repository of comprehensive gait data for a large group of children walking at a wide variety of speeds. Three-dimensional lower extremity joint kinematics, joint kinetics, surface electromyographic (EMG), and spatio-temporal data were collected on 83 typically developing children (ages 4-17) walking at speeds ranging from very slow (>3 standard deviations below mean free speed) to very fast (>3 standard deviations above mean free speed). The resulting data show that speed has a significant influence on many measures of interest, such as kinematic parameters in the sagittal, coronal, and transverse planes. The same was true for kinetic data (ground reaction force, moment, and power), normalized EMG signals, and spatio-temporal parameters. Examples of parameters with linear and various nonlinear speed dependencies are provided. The data from this study, including an extensive electronic addendum, can be used as a reference for both basic biomechanical and clinical gait studies.

Run and Bike Training using Music and Cadence.→

Using music in your training is smart. We have been saying this for over a year in some of our blog articles regarding music and dance and incorporating some of the advantages of brain development and music. Today we have more research to prove our point.

 In The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness (link) British researchers concluded that “exercise is more efficient when performed synchronously with music than when musical tempo is slightly slower than the rate of cyclical movement.” Scott Douglas summarized the study nicely:

    The study had cyclists pedal at 65 revolutions per minute (i.e., 130 pedal strokes per minute) while working at 70% of their aerobic max, which in running terms would be between recovery pace and half marathon pace. The cyclists listened to music at three tempi:

• faster than their pedal rate (137 beats per minute),
• synced with their pedal rate (130 beats per minute)
• and slower than their pedal rate (123 beats per minute).

Although the cyclists rated their perceived effort the same in the three conditions, their oxygen cost was greater when they pedaled along to music that was slower than they were riding. Their heart rates were also slightly higher when listening to the slowest of the three music speeds.

Anyone who has frequently run with music knows how a peppy tune can jump start things. This study suggests you’re asking to work a little harder if your playlist includes songs slower than your turnover, which for running purposes ideally means around 170 or more beats per minute.

In one of our favorite Gait Guys blog posts on June 7th, (here is the link)
we mentioned some other great benefits of strategically using music to further your training:

Music provides timing. Music taps into fundamental systems in our brains that are sensitive to melody and beat. And when you are learning a task, timing can access part of the brain to either make it easier, easier to remember, or engrain the learned behavior deeper. When you add music to anything you are exercising other parts of your brain with that task. It is nothing new in the world of music and brain research when it comes to proving that music expands areas of learning and development in the brain. As Dr. Charles Limb, associate professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University states “It (music) allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.”

Several weeks ago we asked you as an athlete, and this pertains to runners and even those walking, to add music to your training. If you are walking, vary the songs in your ipod to express variations in tempo. Use those tempo changes to change your cadence. If you are a runner, once in awhile add ipod training to your workouts and do the same. Your next fartlek (a system of training for distance runners in which the terrain and pace are varied to enhance conditioning) might be a new experience. Perhaps an enjoyable one. Trust us, we have done it. Here at The Gait Guys, with our backgrounds in neurology and biomechanics amongst other things, we are always looking for new ways to learn and to incorporate other areas of brain challenge to our clients. To build a better athlete you have to use training ideas that are often outside the box.

Remember what Dr. Charles Limb said,

“It (music) allows you to think in a way that you used to not think, and it also trains a lot of other cognitive facilities that have nothing to do with music.”

It is nice to see more studies on music. All to often we use music for pleasure, but here we once again show that it can be a useful training tool if you are paying attention and thinking outside of the iPod. 

Shawn and Ivo, The Gait Guys ……… music lovers as well.