Mechanical Power in Endurance Running: A Scoping Review on Sensors for Power Output Estimation during Running.

Felipe García-Pinillos,Rodrigo Ramírez-Campillo,Luis E. Roche-Seruendo,Antonio Cartón-Llorente,Diego Jaén-Carrillo

doi:10.3390/s20226482

Abstract

Mechanical power may act as a key indicator for physiological and mechanical changes during running. In this scoping review, we examine the current evidences about the use of power output (PW) during endurance running and the different commercially available wearable sensors to assess PW. The Boolean phrases endurance OR submaximal NOT sprint AND running OR runner AND power OR power meter, were searched in PubMed, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS. Nineteen studies were finally selected for analysis. The current evidence about critical power and both power-time and power-duration relationships in running allow to provide coaches and practitioners a new promising setting for PW quantification with the use of wearable sensors. Some studies have assessed the validity and reliability of different available wearables for both kinematics parameters and PW when running but running power meters need further research before a definitive conclusion regarding its validity and reliability.

Highlights

Endurance running events are on the apex of a performance revolution, with the sub-2-h marathon barrier just broken (i.e., Vienna in 2019)
The findings reported here seem to be very advantageous for clinicians and practitioners since, if compared to other physiological parameters such as heart rate or VO2, power output (PW) tend to stabilise over time earlier than others traditionally used
The previous works on running PW and the theoretical approaches provided for its estimation are, from a practical standpoint, hard to include in the everyday routine of an athlete

Summary

Introduction

Endurance running events are on the apex of a performance revolution, with the sub-2-h marathon barrier just broken (i.e., Vienna in 2019). In the same way the power meter changed training and racing in cycling [1] by providing a fair tool to assess performance with accurate replication, it might change the way runners compete and train. Despite training delivers stress on the body, the way runners measure this level of stress has been very limited. The faster a runner goes, the higher the stress for a certain level of fitness. The application of mechanical load (i.e., external training load factors) and psychological and physiological efforts (i.e., internal training load factors) are affected by training stress [4]. Some external load factors including volume and pace are widely used, while physiological internal load factors consider perceived exertion scales, heart rate, or blood lactate level [4]. Pace might be as clear as volume but, it is not easy to assess as Sensors 2020, 20, 6482; doi:10.3390/s20226482 www.mdpi.com/journal/sensors

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