Abstract
There is a sex bias for common overuse running injuries that are associated with sex-specific hip kinematics. Gait retraining programs aimed at altering hip kinematics may be more efficient if they incorporated an understanding of how hip kinematics are correlated with the movement of the remaining body segments. We applied a principal component analysis to structure the whole-body running kinematics of 23 runners (12 ♀) into k = 12 principal movements (PMk), describing correlated patterns of upper and lower body movements. We compared the time-dependent movement amplitudes with respect to each PMk between males and females using a waveform analysis and interpreted our findings according to stick figure animations. The movement amplitudes of two PMs (PM6 and PM8) showed statistically significant effects of “sex,” which were independent of running speed. According to PM8, females showed more hip adduction, which correlated with increased transverse rotation of the pelvis and upper body compared to men. We propose that increased hip adduction and upper body rotation in female runners may be a strategy to compensate for a less efficient arm and upper body swing compared to men. Gait interventions aimed at reducing hip adduction and running-related injuries in female runners should consider instructions for both upper and lower body to maximize training efficacy.
Highlights
Women and men perform many athletic tasks in a sex-specific manner
The first three components explain the main features of the running gait, including the leg swing (PM1), the arm swing (PM1, PM2), corresponding upper body rotation (PM1, PM2), the stepping motion (PM2), and the vertical bouncing motion (PM3)
A kinematic principal component analysis (PCA) yielded principal movements and corresponding principal positions, i.e., the timedependent whole-body posture changes associated with each principal movement for either males or females
Summary
Women and men perform many athletic tasks in a sex-specific manner. One important motivation to study sex-specific movement strategies is a range of musculoskeletal sport injuries, which exhibit a bias such that some injuries are more prevalent in women compared to men and vice versa (Taunton et al, 2002; Emery and Tyreman, 2009; Ristolainen et al, 2009). Patellofemoral pain (PFP) and iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) are among the most common injuries and both injuries are more prevalent in women compared to men (Taunton et al, 2002; Boling et al, 2010). A more adducted hip is thought to result from sex-specific anthropometrics, especially a greater pelvis width to femoral length ratio in women (Ferber et al, 2003; Chumanov et al, 2008) and has been suggested to contribute to the higher prevalence of PFP in women (Noehren et al, 2007; Neal et al, 2016). The goal of several recent interventions in individuals with PFP has been to reduce hip adduction and thereby reduce knee pain (Neal et al, 2016)
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