Sex-specific differences in biomechanics among runners: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Xie, Peng; Bíró, István; Liang, Minjun

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.994076

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…Given that female runners are typically 6% smaller in stature than their male counterparts ( 40 ), similar absolute midsole stack height increases in AFT compared to traditional footwear also create greater relative increases in effective leg length for female athletes and therefore greater increases in relative step length, as we recently proposed ( 10 ). This notion is preliminarily supported by evidence demonstrating an increase in stride length when female runners use AFT at submaximal speeds ( 50 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Mason,

Starc,

Morin

et al. 2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Recent improvements in elite running performances across all distances have been largely attributed to the introduction of advanced footwear technology (AFT), which features a curved and stiff plate working synergistically with a new generation of midsole foams demonstrating enhanced resilience and compliance. These recent improvements appear to be considerably more pronounced in women's events, highlighted by improvements in road racing world records by an average of 3.7% (range: 2.6%–5.2%) compared to mean progressions of 1.5% (range: 1.3%–1.9%) in the same men's events. Although there is a growing body of research investigating the mechanisms underpinning running performance enhancements derived from AFT, there remains no explanation for potential sex-based differences in their benefits. We overview the currently available evidence and highlight why the recent direction of AFT research provides a barrier to progress by focusing primarily on male athletes. We subsequently provide our perspective on why women may be benefiting from the new generation of shoes more than men, suggest potential mechanisms leading to hypotheses that need to be further investigated in upcoming studies, and finally propose that factors outside of footwear innovation may have concurrently driven the recently observed performance evolutions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Mason,

Starc,

Morin

et al. 2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A third limitation is that our relatively small sample size did not allow us to explore sex‐specific effects that may occur due to biomechanical differences between males and females 14,70 . Nevertheless, we attempted to account for sex effects, for example by including a sex‐specific patellofemoral contact area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…68,69 A third limitation is that our relatively small sample size did not allow us to explore sex-specific effects that may occur due to biomechanical differences between males and females. 14,70 Nevertheless, we attempted to account for sex effects, for example by including a sexspecific patellofemoral contact area. Further, we do expect such differences to primarily affect the absolute load and damage within each condition, but to have a smaller effect on the change in load across conditions.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Per‐step and cumulative load at three common running injury locations: The effect of speed, surface gradient, and cadence

Van Hooren,

van Rengs,

Meijer

2024

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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Understanding how loading and damage on common running injury locations changes across speeds, surface gradients, and step frequencies may inform training programs and help guide progression/rehabilitation after injuries. However, research investigating tissue loading and damage in running is limited and fragmented across different studies, thereby impairing comparison between conditions and injury locations. This study examined per‐step peak load and impulse, cumulative impulse, and cumulative weighted impulse (hereafter referred to as cumulative damage) on three common injury locations (patellofemoral joint, tibia, and Achilles tendon) across different speeds, surface gradients, and cadences. We also explored how cumulative damage in the different tissues changed across conditions relative to each other. Nineteen runners ran at five speeds (2.78, 3.0, 3.33, 4.0, 5.0 m s−1), and four gradients (−6, −3, +3, +6°), and three cadences (preferred, ±10 steps min−1) each at one speed. Patellofemoral, tibial, and Achilles tendon loading and damage were estimated from kinematic and kinetic data and compared between conditions using a linear mixed model. Increases in running speed increased patellofemoral cumulative damage, with nonsignificant increases for the tibia and Achilles tendon. Increases in cadence reduced damage to all tissues. Uphill running increased tibial and Achilles tendon, but decreased patellofemoral damage, while downhill running showed the reverse pattern. Per‐step and cumulative loading, and cumulative loading and cumulative damage indices diverged across conditions. Moreover, changes in running speed, surface gradient, and step frequency lead to disproportional changes in relative cumulative damage on different structures. Methodological and practical implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

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“…Knee injuries have been associated with both knee kinematics and kinetics in previous studies [ 8 , 9 ]. In addition, knee flexion angles are important data when assessing various aspects of gaits in different research applications, such as assessing the joint angle symmetry during fatigue [ 10 ], comparing male and female runners [ 11 ], and performing gait analysis for people with multiple sclerosis [ 12 ], among others. Knee flexion is associated with higher strain in the knee ligaments, which can result in ligament strains and tears when paired with other dynamic movements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knee Angle Estimation with Dynamic Calibration Using Inertial Measurement Units for Running

Rhudy,

Mahoney,

Altman-Singles

2024

Sensors

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The knee flexion angle is an important measurement for studies of the human gait. Running is a common activity with a high risk of knee injury. Studying the running gait in realistic situations is challenging because accurate joint angle measurements typically come from optical motion-capture systems constrained to laboratory settings. This study considers the use of shank and thigh inertial sensors within three different filtering algorithms to estimate the knee flexion angle for running without requiring sensor-to-segment mounting assumptions, body measurements, specific calibration poses, or magnetometers. The objective of this study is to determine the knee flexion angle within running applications using accelerometer and gyroscope information only. Data were collected for a single test participant (21-year-old female) at four different treadmill speeds and used to validate the estimation results for three filter variations with respect to a Vicon optical motion-capture system. The knee flexion angle filtering algorithms resulted in root-mean-square errors of approximately three degrees. The results of this study indicate estimation results that are within acceptable limits of five degrees for clinical gait analysis. Specifically, a complementary filter approach is effective for knee flexion angle estimation in running applications.

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Sex-specific differences in biomechanics among runners: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Cited by 11 publications

References 58 publications

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Per‐step and cumulative load at three common running injury locations: The effect of speed, surface gradient, and cadence

Knee Angle Estimation with Dynamic Calibration Using Inertial Measurement Units for Running

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