- Title
- Insight into the hierarchical control governing leg stiffness during the stance phase of running
- Creator
- Garofolini, Alessandro; Mickle, Karen J.; McLaughlin, Patrick; Taylor, Simon B.
- Relation
- Scientific Reports Vol. 12, no. 12123
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16263-7
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Leg stiffness plays a key role in the storage and release of elastic energy during stance. However, the extent to which a runner is able to reuse stored energy remains a limiting factor in determining their running effectiveness. In this study, ten habitual rearfoot strikers and ten habitual forefoot strikers were asked to run on a treadmill in three footwear conditions: traditional, neutral, and minimal running shoes. We examined the effect of habitual foot strike pattern and footwear on leg stiffness control within three task-relevant phases of stance (i.e. touch-down, loading, unloading). Control was quantified using stride-to-stride leg stiffness time-series and the coefficient of variability and detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA). The results are interpreted within a theoretical framework that blends dynamic systems theory and optimal feedback control. Results indicate that leg stiffness control is tightly regulated by an active control process during the loading period of stance. In contrast, the touch-down and unloading phases are driven mostly by passive allometric control mechanisms. The effect of footwear on leg stiffness control was inconclusive due to inconsistent trends across three shoe types. However, stiffness control was affected by landing technique. Habitual rearfoot strike runners have reduced DFA values during the touch-down and unloading phases. These sub-phases are associated with an allometric control process and suggests that rearfoot strike runners express a reduction in system complexity for leg stiffness control and hence, a less adaptable system.
- Subject
- biomechanics; exercise test; foot; gait; running; shoes
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1489543
- Identifier
- uon:52724
- Identifier
- ISSN:2045-2322
- Rights
- © The Author(s) 2022. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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