| Author: | Chan, Yau Shan Zoe |
| Title: | Effects of a visual-feedback gait retraining to promote midfoot landing pattern in runners |
| Advisors: | Cheung, Roy (RS) Ng, Gabriel (RS) Guo, Xia (RS) |
| Degree: | M.Phil. |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Subject: | Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations Running -- Physiological aspects Running injuries -- Prevention Gait in humans |
| Department: | Department of Rehabilitation Sciences |
| Pages: | xiii, 179 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Distance running has become a popular way to exercise across the world. Unfortunately, it also came with a high risk of injuries. Biomechanical factors such as high impact loading and striking with the rearfoot have demonstrated associations with running-related injuries, and gait modification has been proposed to correct improper running form among the runners at-risk. This thesis examined the effectiveness of two gait retraining programs, focusing on the clinical effect for injury prevention and biomechanical effect for impact loading reduction. In the first study (Chapter 3), two groups of novice runners were assessed on running kinetics and injury. The training group underwent a lab-based gait retraining for two weeks, softening their footfalls with the help of visual feedback. Upon completion of the training, impact loading was lowered in the trained runners. More importantly, within one year of training, the injury occurrence of the training group was found to be 62% lower than the controls. This study has underlined the clinical significance of reducing impact loading through gait retraining. The study outlined in Chapter 4 and 5 provided a comprehensive evaluation of a gait retraining program that promoted midfoot landing. Runners who habitually ran with a rearfoot strike underwent gait retraining. Real-time footstrike information was provided while they were modifying their gait. The training was found effective in reducing runners' footstrike angle, but not necessarily lead to a complete transition of footstrike pattern. Such reduction in footstrike angle could be maintained for a month. Surprisingly, the changes in impact loading were inconsistent among the trained runners, indicating that this training could be beneficial to certain runners, but not all. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 991022163355303411.pdf | For All Users | 3.97 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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