Abstract
This study presents an investigation of the changes in foot posture, joint kinematics, joint moments and joint contact forces in the lower extremity following a 5 k treadmill run. A relationship between knee and ankle joint loading and foot posture index (FPI) is developed. Twenty recreational male heel-strike runners participated in this study. All participants had a history of running exercise and were free from lower extremity injuries and foot deformities. Foot posture was assessed from a six-item FPI to quantitatively classify high supination to high pronation foot poses. The FPI is scored using a combination of observations and foot palpations. The three-dimensional marker trajectories, ground reaction force and surface electromyography (EMG) were recorded at pre and post-gait sessions conducted over-ground and 5 k running was conducted on a treadmill. Joint kinematics, joint moments and joint contact forces were computed in OpenSim. Simulated EMG activations were compared against experimental EMG to validate the model. A paired sample t-test was conducted using a 1D statistical parametric mapping method computed temporally. Hip joint moments and contact forces increased during initial foot contact following 5 k running. Knee abduction moment and superior-inferior knee contact force increased, whereas the knee extension moment decreased. Ankle plantarflexion moment and ankle contact forces increased during stance. FPI was found to be moderately correlated with peak knee and ankle moments. Recreational male runners presented increased static foot pronation after 5 k treadmill running. These findings suggest that following mid distance running foot pronation may be an early indicator of increased lower limb joint loading. Furthermore, the FPI may be used to quantify the changes in knee and ankle joint moments.
Highlights
Long distance running has increased in popularity (van Gent et al, 2007; Hulme et al, 2017) due to practicality in many environments, low cost, and links to preventing health issues (Mei et al, 2018)
The findings in this study suggest that joint moments and joint contact forces in the lower extremity are altered with increased foot pronation following 5 k running
Due to repetitive loading from prolonged running activities, reduced arch height and pronated foot posture are reported in long distance runners (Fukano et al, 2018; Mei et al, 2018), which is consistent with the increased foot pronation assessed using the foot posture index (FPI) in this study
Summary
Long distance running has increased in popularity (van Gent et al, 2007; Hulme et al, 2017) due to practicality in many environments, low cost, and links to preventing health issues (Mei et al, 2018). A 6-item scale (foot posture index, FPI) was previously developed and validated to define foot postures including high supination, supination, neutral, pronation and high pronation in multiple planes and anatomical segments under static palpation measurements and clinical settings (Redmond et al, 2006) This FPI may play a role as a low-cost assessment of foot postures without requiring a lab or imaging evaluation. Over 90% of recreational marathon runners adopt a heelstrike style (Larson et al, 2011) This is associated with a drop in foot arch following long distance running (Mei et al, 2018), which is consistent with a recent finding reporting reduced arch ratio and foot pronation (Fukano et al, 2018). Skeletal joint work shifted proximally from the ankle to the knee and hip joints reducing long distance running economy (Sanno et al, 2018)
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