Professional Documents
Culture Documents
AU1 AU2
1
AND
JOHNNY PADULO,1,2 GIUSEPPE ANNINO,1 STEFANO DOTTAVIO,1 GIANLUCA VERNILLO,3 LAURA SMITH,4 ZSEPH TIHANYI5 GIAN MARIO MIGLIACCIO,2 AND JO
Faculty of Medicine and Surgery Motor Sciences, University Tor Vergata Rome, Italy; 2Coni-Italian Regional Olympic Committee, Sardinia, Italy; 3Department of Sports, Nutrition and Health Sciences, Faculty of Exercise Sciences, Universita` degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy; 4Directorate of Sport, Exercise and Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, University of Salford, United Kingdom; and 5Department of Biomechanics, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
AU3 AU4
ABSTRACT
Padulo, J, Annino, G, DOttavio, S, Vernillo, G, Smith, L, Migliaccio, GM, and Tihanyi, J. Footstep analysis at different slopes and speeds in elite race walking. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000000, 2012To investigate the effects of speed and slope on kinematic parameters, we studied the step parameters of 12 elite race walkers on a treadmill at different speeds (3.61, 3.89, and 4.17 ms21) and slopes (0, 2, and 7%). A high-speed digital camera (210 Hz) was used to record motion, and 2D data were analyzed with Dartsh 5.5Pro. The parameters studied were step length (SL), step frequency (SF), and contact time (CT). The results showed that the increases in SL were linearly related to increases in speed: r = 0.37 with p , 0.01, whereas decreases in SL were elicited with an increase in slope r = 0.56, p , 0.0001 ([02% = 3.5%, p , 0.02], [07% = 7.5%, p , 0.01]). The SF was positively correlated with increases in speed, r = 0.56, p = 0.0001, and slopes, r = 0.50, p , 0.0001 (02% = 3.6% n.s.; 07% = 8.5%, p , 0.01). Conversely, CT was negatively correlated with increases of both speed; r = 0.57, p , 0.0001 and slope r = 0.50, p , 0.0001 (02% = 3.4%, n.s.; 07% = 7.7%, p , 0.01). These results suggest that using slopes ,7% could considerably alter the neuromechanical behavior of athletes, whereas slopes around 2% could positively inuence the performance of the elite race walkers without altering the race-walking technique.
AU5
INTRODUCTION
Address correspondence to Johnny Padulo, sportcinetic@yahoo.it. 0(0)/15 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2012 National Strength and Conditioning Association
alking and running have been frequently researched from both a biomechanical and a physiological point of view. Race-walking (RW) research is increasing in popularity because it is one of the special types of gait included in track and eld events (22). It is well documented in the literature that RW is an intermediate mechanical type of locomotion, between walking and running (6,11,12). Consequently, there are signicant differences in kinematic and kinetic variables between the different types of gait; walking, RW, and running. The RW gait, consequently speed, are governed by the strict rules imposed: the International Association of Athletics Federation stipulate the knee must be straightened from initial contact through to the vertical upright position, also that the heel of the advancing foot contacts the ground before the rear foot leaving the ground (double support phase). There are however few studies investigating the effects of speed on RW gait. Murray et al. compared normal fast walking to RW and found that RW elicited greater speed because of increased step length (SL) and cadence, consequently increased muscle activation (18). Similarly, Cairns et al. compared normal walking, slow and fast RW and race walkers jogging at slow velocity. Increases in RW velocity elicited an increase in both SL and step frequency (SF): Increases in SF resulted because of decreased contact time (CT) (4). They also reported that changes in speed altered gait characteristics, including joint kinematics and ground reaction forces, indicating elevated muscle force generation and mechanical work (4). Studies during high-level RW competitions have produced greater speeds than those reported during laboratory-based studies. Average RW speed of the world record during 10- and 50-km races are 4.36 ms21 (3) and a 3.89 ms21 (19), respectively. Therefore, the biomechanical aspect of gait in RW seems to play a crucial role in the energy expenditure and the movement mechanics (5,14,16). It is pertinent to understand the kinematic adaptations of changes in RW speed. Normally, within RW competitions, a slope variability ranging from level to 2% is present. Although taking kinematic
VOLUME 0 | NUMBER 0 | MONTH 2012 |
METHODS
Subjects
AU6
Elite race walkers (n = 12), age 23.42 6 5.62 years, height 1.76 6 0.09 m, mass 60.08 6 4.42 kg, body mass index 19.40 6 1.10 kgm22, with 9.92 6 0.72 years of training experience participated in this study. The inclusion criteria were high skill with .7 years training (all were ranked at the national level in their category, one was of an international level). None of the athletes suffered nutritional disturbances, none had any musculoskeletal injuries, and no medications or drugs expected to affect their physical performance were taken during the course of this investigation. To make the group homogeneous with regard to training conditions, none of the subjects performed any endurance strenuous activity and resistance training outside their normal endurance training protocol. A diet control was designed to eliminate the risk of any difference in the total assumption of proteins, carbohydrates and saturated and unsaturated fats; all the athletes lived together and followed a diet provided by the sports nutritionist. The macronutrient composition of the each subject diet was 60% carbohydrate (7.4 gkg21d21), 26% fat, and 14% protein (1.8 gkg21d21). The TCU Institutional Review Board for the use of Human Subjects approved the details of this study and all related informational and consent documentation before any data collection. In accordance with the Institutional Review Boards policies for use of human subjects in research, the investigator informed all the subjects as to the benets and possible risks associated with the participation in the study, and all the subjects signed a written informed consent document indicating their voluntary participation.
Procedures
Starting tests were carried out in May 2010, in the Human Performance Laboratory. To better standardize slope and
Data are presented as mean 6 SD. Linear regression analysis, using Pearsons correlation coefcients (r) was used to indicate the relationship between level and slopes and (a) SL, (b) SF, and (c) CT at each speed (3.61, 3.89, and 4.17 ms21). After the assumption of normality, veried using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, a 2-way ANOVA was used to determine any signicant difference in SL, SF, and CTat each speed and slope. In the case of signicant F-value, a Fishers least signicant difference post hoc test was applied. The level set for signicance was p # 0.05. The statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software (version 15, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
the
TM
the
TM
| www.nsca-jscr.org
TABLE 1. Effects of slope on race walking at different speeds with increasing slope (0, 2, and 7%, mean 6 SD of the kinematic variables studied). Slope (%) Level +2 Up +7 Up Speed (ms21) 3.61 3.89 4.16 3.61 3.89 4.16 3.61 3.89 4.16 Step length (m) 1.09 1.12 1.15 1.05 1.08 1.11 1.01 1.03 1.06 6 0.06* 6 0.04* 6 0.05* 6 0.07* 6 0.06* 6 0.06* 6 0.08$ 6 0.09$ 6 0.07$ Step frequency (step per s) 3.32 6 0.18 3.48 6 0.14 3.63 6 0.16 3.44 6 0.19 3.60 6 0.15 3.76 6 0.17 3.59 6 0.20* 3.77 6 0.17* 3.95 6 0.18* Contact time (ms) 302 6 288 6 276 6 292 6 278 6 266 6 279 6 266 6 254 6 15.40 11.57 11.53 15.42 11.58 11.57 15.23$ 11.44* 11.20*
AU8
Conditions that differ from level race walking and velocity are denoted in level with an *p , 0.05 or $p , 0.01 signicant differences between 0 and 2%, p , 0.05 or p , 0.01 signicant differences between 0 and 7%. At the 2%: with an *p , 0.05 or $p , 0.01 signicant differences between 2 and 0%, p , 0.05 or p , 0.01 signicant differences between 2 and 7%. At the 7%: with an *p , 0.05 or $p , 0.01 signicant differences between 7 and 2%, p , 0.05 or p , 0.01 signicant differences between 7 and 0%.
RESULTS
Step Length
T1
A signicant decrease (Table 1) was observed in SL with relation to increased treadmill slopes (r = 0.56, 95% condence interval: 20.86 to 0.02, p , 0.0001), whereas a signicant increase resulted because of the increasing velocities (r = 0.37, 0.26 to 0.78, p , 0.01). As shown in Table 1, with a 2% slope the difference compared with level was 4.01% (p , 0.05) while between level and a 7% slope, the difference increased to 9.10% (p , 0.01). Compared with 3.61 ms21, the SL was 2.9 and 5.67% longer at 3.89 and 4.17 ms21, respectively. The SL was greater during level walking at 4.17-ms21 velocity (1.15 6 0.05 m) and shorter at 7% slope at 3.61-ms21 velocity (1.01 6 0.06 m). No signicant correlation was found between the subjects height and their SL with regard to the improvement of velocity (r = 0.20, n.s.) and slope (r = 0.29, n.s.).
Step Frequency
linear with relation to the increasing speeds (3.61 , 3.89 ms21 24.44%; 3.61 , 4.17 ms21 28.42%). The decreased CT (254 6 11.2 milliseconds) at 7% slope with 4.17 ms21 contributed to the increased SF (3.95 6 0.18 Hz). Conversely, during level walking at 3.61 ms21 the greater CT (302 6 15.4 milliseconds) contributed to the decreased SF (3.32 6 0.18 seconds). Similar to SL, CT gradually decreased with increasing treadmill slopes: a decrease of 3.46% (p = n.s.) between level and 2% slope and 27.81% (p , 0.01) between level and 7% slope. The SL and SF increased with the increase in walking speeds at all treadmill slopes, and the CT decreased with regard to all speed and slope conditions (Table 1).
DISCUSSION
The study aimed to investigate the characteristics of kinematic variables, SL, SF, and CT, during 3 RW speeds and 3 different slopes (0, 2, and 7%). This study was conducted as step kinematic characteristics of RW have previously been studied at slower speeds than speeds elicited during competitions. The second important reason for this study was the acknowledgment that slopes play a crucial role in the RW training methodology. We found that SL increased gradually as the speed increased, and it decreased as the slopes increased. The SF increased linearly as walking speeds and slopes increased. Accordingly, the CT also decreased linearly with regard to the increase of speed and slope. As was expected, SL was longer during level walking than on slope walking at each walking speed. At increased incline, to maintain a constant speed, more force should be produced, which would provide a longer SL. However, increases of the SL are hindered by the elevation of the treadmill belt, in which the swing leg is forced to contact the belt in a shorter time as a result of the elevation. To maintain constant walking speed, the athlete should therefore
VOLUME 0 | NUMBER 0 | MONTH 2012 |
The SF increased signicantly with changing treadmill slopes (r = 0.50, 0.1 to 0.83, p , 0.0001) and velocities (r = 0.56, 0.02 to 0.86, p , 0.0001). As shown in Table 1, a 3.59% (p = n.s.) difference between level and 2% slope was found, which increased to 8.39% (p , 0.01) between level and 7%. Similarly to the SL, SF increased (Table 1) linearly from 4.56% (3.61 , 3.89 ms21) to 9.11% (3.61 , 4.17 ms21) with the increase in walking velocity. With relation to the slopes, compared with level, SF increased approximately 3.5% at each speed at 2% slope, whereas it increased more (;8.5%) at 7% slope in all the speeds studied.
Contact Time
The CT decreased signicantly with the increased treadmill speeds (r = 0.57, 0.860.01, p , 0.0001) and slopes (r = 0.50, 0.83 to 0.1, p , 0.0001). The decrease in CT was
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
In RW competition, the average number of steps is reportedly 27,786 during 10-km races (3) and 52,661 during 50-km races (19) (estimated in relation to their race performances at 4.36 and 3.89 ms21 and reported SFs). Small decreases in SL could produce greater loss of distance over the course of a race, which would adversely affect race performance. Therefore, it is necessary for coaches to know the SL decrease incurred at different slopes, and at a constant speed, to estimate an athletes efciency level. For example, by knowing the speed of the treadmill (the best performance RW race speed) during level and the number of steps per minute, SL can be estimated (an approximation) with equation 1.
the
TM
the
TM
| www.nsca-jscr.org
12. Hoga, K, Ae, M, Enomoto, Y, Yokozawa, T, and Fujii, N. Joint torque and mechanical energy ow in the support legs of skilled race walkers. Sports Biomech 5: 167182, 2006. 13. La Torre, A. Lallenamento di Ivano Brugnetti per la 20 km di Atene. Edizione Fidal: Atletica Studi 2010. 14. Margaria, R, Cerreteri, P, Aghemo, P, and Sassi, G. Energy cost of running. J Appl Physiol 18: 367370, 1963. 15. Matsas, A, Taylor, N, and McBurney, H. Knee joint kinematics from familiarized treadmill walking can be generalized to overground walking in young unimpaired subjects. Gait Posture 11: 4653, 2000. 16. Minetti, AE, Ardigo, LP, and Saibene, F. Mechanical determinants of the minimum energy cost of gradient running in humans. J Exp Biol 195: 211225, 1994. 17. Minetti, AE, Moia, C, Roi, GS, Susta, D, and Ferretti, G. Energy cost of walking and running at extreme uphill and downhill slopes. J Appl Physiol 93: 10391046, 2002. 18. Murray, MP, Guten, GN, Mollinger, LA, and Gardner, GM. Kinematic and electromyographic patterns of Olympic race walkers. Am J Sports Med 11: 6874, 1983. 19. Nizhegorodov, D. Word record race walkers 50 km. Available at: http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/records/inout=o/discType=6/disc= 50KR/detail.html. Accessed September 13, 2011. 20. Owings, TM and Grabiner, MD. Measuring step kinematic variability on an instrumented treadmill: How many steps are enough? J Biomech 36: 12151218, 2003. 21. Padulo, J, Annino, G, Migliaccio, GM, DOttavio, S, and Tihanyi, J. Kinematics of running at different slopes and speeds. J Strength Cond Res. In Press. Doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318231aafa. 22. Vernillo, G, Agnello, L, Drake, A, Padulo, J, Piacentini, MF, and Torre, AL. An observational study on the perceptive and physiological variables during a 10,000-m race walking competition. J Strength Cond Res. In Press. Doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318242a33c.
REFERENCES
1. Belli, A, Rey, S, Bonnefoy, R, and Lacour, JR. A Simple device for kinematic measurements of human movement. Ergonomics 35: 177186, 1992. 2. Bobbert, AC. Energy expenditure in level and grade walking. J Appl Physiol 15: 10151021, 1960. 3. Burayev, V. Word record race walkers 10 km. Available at: http:// www.iaaf.org/statistics/records/inout=o/discType=5/disc=10KW/ detail.html. Accessed September 13, 2011. 4. Cairns, MA, Burdett, RG, Pisciotta, JC, and Simon, SR. A biomechanical analysis of racewalking gait. Med Sci Sports Exerc 18: 446453, 1986. 5. Cavagna, GA and Franzetti, P. Mechanics of competition walking. J Physiol 315: 243251, 1981. 6. Cavagna, GA, Thys, H, and Zamboni, A. The sources of external work in level walking and running. J Physiol 262: 639657, 1976. 7. Cavanagh, PR, Pollock, ML, and Landa, J. A biomechanical comparison of elite and good distance runners. Ann N Y Acad Sci 301: 328345, 1977. 8. Cavanagh, PR and Williams, KR. The effect of stride length variation on oxygen uptake during distance running. Med Sci Sports Exerc 14: 3035, 1982. 9. Dill, DB. Oxygen used in horizontal in grade walking and running in the treadmill. J Appl Physiol 20: 1922, 1965. 10. Gottschall, JS and Kram, R. Energy cost and muscular activity required for leg swing during walking. J Appl Physiol 99: 2330, 2005. 11. Hoga, K, Ae, M, Enomoto, Y, and Fujii, N. Mechanical energy ow in the recovery leg of elite race walkers. Sports Biomech 2: 113, 2003.
AU7