The effect of running speed on joint coupling coordination and its variability in recreational runners

Pablo Floría, Alberto Sánchez-Sixto, Andrew J. Harrison, Reed Ferber

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of speed on coordination and its variability in running gait using vector coding analysis. Lower extremity kinematic data were collected for thirteen recreational runners while running at three different speeds in random order: preferred speed, 15% faster and 15% lower than preferred speed. A dynamical systems approach, using vector coding and circular statistics, were used to quantify coordination and its variability for selected hip-knee and knee-ankle joint couplings. The influence of running speed was calculated from the continuous data sets of the running cycle, allowing for the identification of time percentages where differences existed. Results indicate that increases in running speed produced moderate alterations in the frequency of movement patterns which were not enough to alter classification of coordination. No effects of speed on coordination variability were observed. This study has demonstrated that coordination and coordination variability is generally stable in the range of ±15% around of preferred speed in recreational runners.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)449-458
Number of pages10
JournalHuman Movement Science
Volume66
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2019

Keywords

  • Circular statistics
  • Dynamical systems
  • Lower extremity
  • Vector coding

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The effect of running speed on joint coupling coordination and its variability in recreational runners'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this