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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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INFLUENCE OF GAIT MANIPULATION ON RUNNING ECONOMY IN FEMALE DISTANCE RUNNERS |
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Wayland Tseh1  ,
Jennifer L. Caputo2 and Don W. Morgan2 |
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1Department of Health and Applied Human Sciences, University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA 2Department of Health and Human Performance, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, USA |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2008) 7, 91 - 95 Search Google Scholar for Citing Articles |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| The aim of this investigation was to determine if gait manipulation
influences running economy. Following 30 minutes of accommodation to level
treadmill running at 3.35 m·s-1 and determination of VO2peak,
nine female distance runners (age = 23.3 ± 4.2 years; body mass = 57.5 ±
5.2 kg; height = 1.64 ± 0.10 m; body fat = 11.4 ± 2.4 %; VO2peak
= 54.9 ± 4.1 ml·kg-1·min-1) completed two treadmill
running sessions. In each session, standing VO2 was measured
and subjects ran for 6 minutes at 3.35 m·s-1 under 4 randomly-selected
conditions: a) normal running (NL), b) hands behind back (BK), c) hands
on head (HD), and d) running with exaggerated vertical oscillation (VOSC).
During the last 2 minutes of each running bout, samples of expired air were
analyzed to determine oxygen uptake (VO2). Data obtained by averaging
gross VO2 values across sessions indicated that VOSC (51.0 ±
2.5 ml·kg-1·min-1) and HD (46.1 ± 2.0 ml·kg-1·min-1)
resulted in significantly (p < 0.05) elevated VO2 values compared
to BK (43.9 ± 2.4 ml·kg-1·min-1) and NL (43.4 2.6
ml·kg-1·min-1). VO2 measured during VOSC
was also higher compared to HD. Viewed in concert, these results suggest
that specific gait manipulations can produce marked decrements in running
economy among trained female distance runners.
Key words: Biomechanics, oxygen uptake, distance running, female runners. |
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