Experience does not influence injury-related joint kinematics and kinetics in distance runners.
Cristine E Agresta, Jillian Peacock, Jeffrey Housner and 2 others
PMID 29289028WHAT IT FOUND
Years of running experience was not associated with injury-related running mechanics in 100 healthy distance runners.
Age and speed were linked to knee, hip, stride, and loading measures.
Key findings
01Years of running experience was not significantly associated with the movement, force, or stride variables studied.
02Increasing age was associated with decreased peak knee flexion during contact phase and increased contact time.
03Running speed was significantly associated with vertical ground reaction force loading rate, knee flexion at foot strike, peak knee flexion during contact phase, peak hip internal rotation, stride rate, stride time, stride length, and contact time.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study looked at runners at one time, so it cannot show that experience, age, or speed caused the movement differences or injury risk. All runners were healthy and already running at least 19 km per week, so it says little about injured runners, inactive people, or much lower-mileage runners. Force data came from a pressure-sensing treadmill at 120 Hz and were back-calculated, which may have affected detection of vertical impact peaks. Movement data came from inertial sensors rather than optical motion capture, so angles may differ slightly from the optical standard. The oldest runners were limited to 55 years or younger, so it says little about older runners.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that novice runners have faulty running mechanics or that gait retraining should be chosen based on years of experience. The study found no significant association between years of experience and the biomechanical variables, while age and running speed were related to some mechanics.