Examining the Most Effective Method to Reduce Running Ground Contact Time
Keller Army Community Hospital
Summary
The purpose of our study is to establish the most effective running retraining technique to decrease ground contact time. This will be investigated by applying three running retraining conditions and assessing the change in ground contact time and other biomechanical variables between the runner's baseline running and each retraining technique.
Description
The purpose of our study is to establish the most effective running retraining technique to decrease ground contact time utilizing three common running retraining methods in healthy runners. The first aim will be to apply three running retraining conditions and assess the change in ground contact time and other spatiotemporal and biomechanical variables between the runner's baseline running and each retraining condition. The three running conditions will be at the participant's self-selected speed corresponding to "a comfortable run for 30 minutes". The conditions will be, condition 1: a ver…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 17–60 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * Military Service Member or USMA cadet between the ages of 17-60 * Run at least 2 miles three times per week for the past 3 months * Able to run for at least 15 continuous minutes at a self-selected speed * Fluent in the English language to read and provide informed consent and follow study instructions Exclusion Criteria: * Lower extremity or low back pain in the previous 3 months * Lower extremity or low back surgery in the previous 6 months * Self-reported pregnancy or given birth within the last 6 months * Currently on a profile that restricts or limits running
Interventions
- OtherReal-time Visual Feedback
Runners will visualize their real-time ground contact time (GCT) measured by the RunScribe on a TV screen. They will be instructed to run with a goal of matching their target GCT. Their target GCT will be 5% less than their baseline.
- OtherReal-time Auditory Feedback
Runners will be instructed to match their step rate to a target step rate, 10% above their baseline step rate. A metronome will be played over a speaker to provide real-time auditory feedback of the target step rate.
- OtherReal-time Verbal Feedback
The clinician will provide real-time verbal feedback to runner to "pull your foot off the ground as quickly as you can," every 15 seconds during the retraining condition.
Location
- Keller Army Community HospitalWest Point, New York