Influence Of A Novel Music App On Spatiotemporal Mechanics During Running

Abstract

An increased running step rate (i.e., cadence) can decrease lower extremity joint loads and potentially reduce running-related injury (RRI) risk. Many gait interventions have significantly increased a runner’s cadence through a variety of external stimuli (e.g., metronome). Runners have been shown to spontaneously manipulate their cadence when listening to music with a tempo that differed ±3% from their baseline cadence. However, no study has determined whether a runner will subconsciously increase cadence > 3% when listening to up-tempo music. PURPOSE: To determine if music tempo (beats per minute, bpm) set 10% higher than baseline cadence affects spatiotemporal running mechanics. METHODS: Utilizing a blinded experimental design, twenty-two runners (15F, 7M, 18-40 yo) were recruited, granted informed consent, were randomly assigned to a control (C) or experimental (E) group, and picked four motivational songs. The Brunel Music Rating Inventory was used to rate song motivational level. Subjects ran three 5-min trials (5/10 effort) on a pressure-sensitive treadmill (Noraxon U.S.A., 100 Hz) with vertical ground reaction force and pressure recorded during the last 45 sec and lowpass filtered (40 Hz). Five-min of rest was given between trials. During the second trial, subjects listened to music via headphones with the bpm set to baseline cadence (C) or 10% higher (E). Music was administered via a novel smartphone application that permitted song tempo to be adjusted and maintained in one bpm increments. The last trial was completed without music with velocity held constant across all trials. A mixed design analysis of variance was run in JASP with a significance set apriori at 0.05. RESULTS: Baseline cadence was not significantly different between groups (C: 165.4±9.5 steps per minute, E 167.2±6.8, p=0.61). There was not a significant main effect (p=0.54, p=0.32, p=0.152, p=0.70) of music tempo between groups for cadence (F (1,20)=0.39), step width (F(1,20)=1.02), stance phase (F (1,20)=2.22), or foot rotation (F(1,20)=0.16). CONCLUSION: Spatiotemporal running mechanics do not spontaneously adjust when runners listen to motivational music set at a tempo 10% greater than baseline cadence. Listening to up-tempo music should not be considered an effective external stimulus to promote increased running cadence.