Title: The effect of running experience on muscle forces and knee joint reaction forces during running

Authors: Zhihui Kang; Xinyan Jiang

Addresses: Department of Physical Education, Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, Ningbo, China ' Doctoral School on Safety and Security Sciences, Obuda University, 1034 Budapest, Hungary

Abstract: It is possible that increased experience leads to improved running mechanics and fewer injuries; however, the reason behind this is still unclear. Indicators of running-related injuries or running biomechanics related to higher knee joint loading are frequently investigated during running research. The aim of our present study was to investigate the differences in muscles around the knee and knee joint reaction forces between novice and experienced runners. Fifteen novice runners and 15 experienced runners were enrolled in this study and underwent 3D running analysis. The lower limb muscle forces and knee joint loading of runners were estimated by musculoskeletal modelling based on OpenSim. The results showed that novice runners and experienced runners have different running mechanisms, mainly novice runners showed significantly bigger knee loading and muscle forces than the experienced group in most of the stance phases. Considering the proposed relationship between knee joint loading, muscles, and running-related injuries, the novice group may be more prone to lower extremity injuries due to increased loading production during running compared to experienced runners. However, the evidence is not direct that novice runners are at greater risk for running-related injury.

Keywords: OpenSim; knee; muscle force; running experience; musculoskeletal modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBET.2024.138969

International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, 2024 Vol.45 No.3, pp.183 - 197

Received: 22 Jul 2023
Accepted: 02 Oct 2023
Published online: 05 Jun 2024 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article