Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

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Experienced runners naturally optimize stride rate in a manner that minimizes oxygen uptake at given running speeds. However, as runners become fatigued, preferred stride rate often decreases. Whether such changes with fatigue occur in parallel with changes in optimal stride rate is unknown. This study's focus was on determining whether experienced runners self-optimize stride rate throughout a near-maximal one-hour run. A secondary focus was to determine if vertical stiffness is associated with decreases in stride rate. Seventeen subjects completed a one-hour near-maximal effort run on a treadmill. After the first five minutes, preferred and optimal stride rates were measured. Ground reaction force data were used to determine preferred stride rate averaged over ten strides. Runners completed five two-minute segments of running at preferred stride rate, 4% and 8% above and below their preferred rate. Oxygen uptake was measured during the second minute of each two-minute segment. Fitting a second-degree polynomial through oxygen uptake versus stride rate data provided a minimum value for oxygen uptake from which optimal stride rate was determined. Fifty minutes into the run, optimal stride rate was measured again. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no difference between preferred and optimal stride rates at the beginning or at the end of the run, but a decrease in optimal stride rate was observed from beginning to end. About half of the subjects decreased preferred and optimal stride rate over the course of the hour run while the other half showed little or no change. Vertical stiffness was measured based upon center of mass vertical displacement and active peak force. Decreases in preferred stride rate over the course of the hour run were expected to be associated with decreases of vertical stiffness. However, the changes in stride rate and vertical stiffness were small; no strong relationship was observed (R²=0.12). Experienced runners have demonstrated the capability to self-optimize stride rate at the beginning and near the end of a one hour run. This ability was observed for runners with substantial shifts of stride rate with fatigue as well as for runners with no change of stride rate with fatigue. / Graduation date: 2002

Graduation date: 1995

Previous reports have demonstrated that running economy (RE), a measure of efficiency of locomotion, is superior in adults than in children; however, it is unclear how these differences come to be. Purpose: To identify the effect of maturity status, physical activity and various other anatomical and physiological factors on RE development in boys aged 8 to 16 years. Methods: Data were collected as part of the Saskatchewan Growth and Development Study (SGDS; 1964-1973). Using a pure longitudinal study design, anthropometric, maturity, physiological characteristics (treadmill run) and physical activity were assessed annually for nine consecutive years. Two-hundred and two eight year-old males were measured in 1965; by 1973, complete longitudinal data were available for 63 participants. During the treadmill run, a measure of submaximal oxygen consumption (VO2) was recorded, an index of RE. Four approaches of normalizing VO2 to body size were investigated. Maturity status was determined based upon chronological age at peak height velocity (PHV). Physical activity was assessed by two teacher ratings and two questionnaires. Results: Normalizing VO2 to body surface area was found to be the most appropriate body size adjustment. Submaximal VO2 (ml/m^2/min) at 9.6 km/h decreased with increasing chronological age (p<0.05). At common chronological age bands, late-maturing boys demonstrated superior RE than early-maturing boys from ages 10-14 years (p<0.05); average-maturing boys were also found to be more efficient than early-maturers at 12 and 13 years of age (p<0.05). Physical activity was not found to have any significant effect on the development of RE (p>0.05). A series of age-specific regression analyses identified body surface area and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) as variables which account for a significant portion of the variance in absolute VO2 (0.619<R^2<0.903); RER was not significant (p>0.05) at all chronological ages. Conclusion: Determining an appropriate approach for normalizing VO2 values is essential to allow for reliable investigation into factors other than size that affect RE. Maturity status was found to significantly affect RE development; however, only during the circumpubertal years. No effect of physical activity was found on RE development in boys 8-16 years. The relative influence of maturity status and RER are variable across different ages.

Previous reports have demonstrated that running economy (RE), a measure of efficiency of locomotion, is superior in adults than in children; however, it is unclear how these differences come to be. Purpose: To identify the effect of maturity status, physical activity and various other anatomical and physiological factors on RE development in boys aged 8 to 16 years. Methods: Data were collected as part of the Saskatchewan Growth and Development Study (SGDS; 1964-1973). Using a pure longitudinal study design, anthropometric, maturity, physiological characteristics (treadmill run) and physical activity were assessed annually for nine consecutive years. Two-hundred and two eight year-old males were measured in 1965; by 1973, complete longitudinal data were available for 63 participants. During the treadmill run, a measure of submaximal oxygen consumption (VO2) was recorded, an index of RE. Four approaches of normalizing VO2 to body size were investigated. Maturity status was determined based upon chronological age at peak height velocity (PHV). Physical activity was assessed by two teacher ratings and two questionnaires. Results: Normalizing VO2 to body surface area was found to be the most appropriate body size adjustment. Submaximal VO2 (ml/m^2/min) at 9.6 km/h decreased with increasing chronological age (p<0.05). At common chronological age bands, late-maturing boys demonstrated superior RE than early-maturing boys from ages 10-14 years (p<0.05); average-maturing boys were also found to be more efficient than early-maturers at 12 and 13 years of age (p<0.05). Physical activity was not found to have any significant effect on the development of RE (p>0.05). A series of age-specific regression analyses identified body surface area and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) as variables which account for a significant portion of the variance in absolute VO2 (0.619<R^2<0.903); RER was not significant (p>0.05) at all chronological ages. Conclusion: Determining an appropriate approach for normalizing VO2 values is essential to allow for reliable investigation into factors other than size that affect RE. Maturity status was found to significantly affect RE development; however, only during the circumpubertal years. No effect of physical activity was found on RE development in boys 8-16 years. The relative influence of maturity status and RER are variable across different ages.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ball State University, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 12, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-123).

Walking and running are essential tasks people take for granted every day. However, these are highly complex tasks that require significant neural control. This is complicated by the inherent redundancy of the nervous system and by physiological noise. Humans may adopt different control strategies to achieve different goals (environmental or task specific). More specifically, walking/running on a treadmill only requires that one not walk off the treadmill. Of the many possible strategies that can achieve this goal, humans attempt to maintain a constant speed from each stride to the next (Dingwell, John et al. 2010). However, how humans alter the stride-to-stride regulation of their gait when the task goals change (e.g., by maintaining stride length and/or time, during running, or during a predicted walk to run transition speed) has not yet been demonstrated. In the first two of three experiments conducted, healthy adults either walked or ran on a motorized treadmill at a comfortable speed under the following conditions: constant speed, constant speed with the stride length goal (targets on the treadmill), constant speed with the stride time goal (metronome), or constant speed with both stride length and stride time goals. In a third experiment, subjects walked and/or ran at a comfortable speed and also at their predicted theoretical walk to run transition speed. Goal functions derived from the task specifications yielded new variables that defined fluctuations either directly relevant to, or irrelevant to, achieving each goal. The magnitude of the variability, as well as the stride-to-stride temporal fluctuations in these variables, were calculated. During walking, subjects exploited different redundancy relationships in different ways to prioritize certain task goals (maintain stride speed) over others (maintain stride length or stride time) in each different context. In general, subjects made rapid corrections of those stride-to-stride deviations that were most directly relevant to the different task goals adopted in each walking condition. Thus, the central nervous system readily adapts to achieve multiple goals simultaneously. During running, subjects exhibited similar adaptations to walking, but over-corrected to prioritize maintaining stride speed even more strongly. This suggests that stepping control strategies adapt to the level of perceived risk. This purposeful adaptability of these stride-to-stride control strategies could be exploited to developing more effective rehabilitation interventions for patients with locomotor impairments. During the predicted walk-to-run speeds, subjects were able to largely exploit the redundancy within task goal, and effectively operated at “uncomfortable” speeds. These results suggest that the stride speed control is robust even with additional novel tasks and uncomfortable, abnormal speeds of locomotion. / text

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