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Item The effects of angled insoles on short radius flat-track running mechanics(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 2023) Bianchini, Christopher David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Corey PewWhile indoor track allows athletes to compete during the winter period of December to February, injury rates during the indoor track and field season are 16% higher than the outdoor season. Increases in injury rates are often attributed to the shorter turn radii experienced by athletes when competing on a 200m indoor track as opposed to the longer turn radii of a 400m outdoor track. A common method of counteracting these asymmetries is to bank the turns of a 200m indoor track. Aligning the athlete's resultant force vector perpendicular to the running surface can alleviate many of the running form abnormalities caused by turn running. However, the high cost of implementing a banked indoor track can be prohibitive to many programs who currently have a flat track facility. To this end, we have developed two experimental insoles designed to alleviate the asymmetries experienced during turn running: a physically angled foam insole and an insole containing an angled stiff mid-plate. Insole function was tested through human participant running trials to identify their effects on indoor flat track running mechanics. 12 NCAA Division 1 track and field athletes (6 male, 6 female, age: 21 + or - 2 years, mass: 61.4 + or - 11.4 kg, height: 1.77 + or - 0.17 m) who specialize in distance and mid-distance running provided informed consent to participate in this Institutional Review Board-approved protocol. Kinematics, muscle activation, and ground interaction variables were monitored during running trials and used to compare the effects of the insoles on running biomechanics. The physically angled insole produced positive results for ankle joint angles and ground interaction variables for turn running. The angled plate insole positively affected right-side ankle joint angle positioning and did not significantly impact straight running mechanics. Both insoles produced higher levels of muscle activation asymmetry, indicating that this may be a required effect of turn running regardless of joint angle positioning and ground interaction. While the angled plate insoles showed almost no impact on straight or turn running mechanics, the wedge insoles functioned effectively to alleviate several asymmetries related to turn running.Item Using a beam theory model to quantify metatarsal bone stress during running(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2023) McKibben, Kaitlyn Marie; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James N. Becker; This is a manuscript style paper that includes co-authored chapters.Running is a common fitness activity that is associated with a high incidence of overuse injuries, including metatarsal stress fractures. One contributor to stress injury is repetitive loading of the metatarsals without adequate recovery time and experiencing larger volumes and magnitudes of bone loading may increase injury risk. Thus, quantifying metatarsal loads can be beneficial to understanding injury risk. However, it is currently difficult to estimate bone stress in clinical settings and unclear how bone stress changes following a long run. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to 1) characterize changes in metatarsal bone stress before and after the completion of a long-distance run, and 2) suggest a clinically feasible method for estimating metatarsal bone stress. Study 1 involved 21 healthy long-distance runners who ran 25% of their average weekly mileage on an instrumented treadmill. Foot kinematics, ground reaction forces, and in-shoe plantar pressures were collected at the beginning and end of the run and a mathematical model was used to estimate bone stresses and bending moments for all five metatarsals. Plantar stress, dorsal stress, and midshaft bending moments in the second and third metatarsals were greater after the completion of the run. This is consequential for injury risk because the second and third metatarsals are the most susceptible to stress fracture development. In study 2, seventeen runners ran barefoot across a force plate overlaid with a plantar pressure mat while foot kinematics were recorded. The same mathematical model of the metatarsals was used to estimate third metatarsal bone stresses and bending moments, and linear regressions determined whether force or pressure beneath the metatarsal predicted bone loads. A model containing head and base pressure differentials and force beneath the metatarsal head was the best predictor of bone loading, indicating that the use of plantar pressure measurements as a surrogate measure of bone stress could be a time and cost-effective method for estimating bone stress in clinical settings. Moving forward, elucidating how metatarsal bone stress changes over the course of a long run and finding more accessible ways to quantify bone stress could help alleviate injury risk.Item Coordination and coordination variability during running with respect to internal loading and age(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2021) Hoffee, Allison Jane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James P. Becker; David Graham, Scott Monfort and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'Coordination variability predicts achilles tendon and peak patellofemoral loading in healthy runners' submitted to the journal 'Clinical biomechanics' which is contained within this thesis.; Scott Monfort, David Graham and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'Comparison of coordination and coordination variability between adolescent and adult runners' submitted to the journal 'Journal of sports sciences' which is contained within this thesis.Running is a largely popular and widely accessible form of exercise. However, running may pose risks to individuals due to its associations with high rates of injuries. Coordination between lower extremity joints and segments as well as coordination variability have linked to these running injuries. While mechanisms of injury are multifactorial, one theory suggests that reduced coordination variability may cause injury by increasing cumulative loading of soft tissue structures. This relationship may be important when assessing age, as prevalence of injuries differ between adolescents and adults. Therefore, this thesis aimed to 1) assess the relationship between coordination variability and loads in the Achilles tendon and patellofemoral joint during running 2) and evaluate differences in segmental coordination and variability between adolescent and collegiate runners. In Study 1, 64 healthy, adult runners ran on an instrumented treadmill while kinematics and kinetics were recorded. Coordination variability for knee-shank, knee-rearfoot, and shank-rearfoot couplings were calculated using vector coding. Achilles tendon and patellofemoral kinetics were calculated with musculoskeletal models. Surrogate variables were created for Achilles tendon and patellofemoral metrics using principal component analyses, and regressions were used to determine whether variability metrics predicted loading surrogates. One surrogate variable was created for Achilles loading, and lower knee-rearfoot variability predicted greater Achilles loading. Two surrogate variables were created for patellofemoral loading. Lower knee-rearfoot and knee-shank variability predicted greater peak patellofemoral loading, but no variability predicted cumulative patellofemoral loading. This suggests that a combination of low variability and large loads may be important for injury risk rather than cumulative loading. Study 2 assessed 21 competitive adolescent and 21 collegiate runners. Coordination variability was calculated using vector coding for various thigh, shank, and rearfoot couplings. Coordination patterns were analyzed using a binning frequency analysis. Adolescent and collegiate runners displayed different coordination patterns while running that primarily emerged from the transverse plane. Adolescent runners displayed greater coordination variability on average than collegiate runners. Combined with previous literature, this suggests a downward trend in coordination variability starting in adolescence and continuing through adulthood. In conclusion, coordination and its variability may be consequential in terms of injury mechanisms and different age populations.Item The Y-balance test in runners: relationships between performance and running mechanics, and the influence of fatigue(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2020) Wilson, Charles Scott; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: James P. Becker; Allison Theobold, Sara Skammer, Sam Nelson and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'A multivariate analysis between the Y-balance test and injury-linked running mechanics' submitted to the journal 'The American journal of sports medicine' which is contained within this thesis.; Sam Nelson, Sara Skammer and James Becker were co-authors of the article, 'The relationship between Y-balance test performance and running mechanics at the hip following fatigue' submitted to the journal 'The journal of orthopedic and sports physical therapy' which is contained within this thesis.The YBT is a widely known clinical movement screen used to measure strength, dynamic stability and neuromuscular control in a variety of athletic and clinical populations. The YBT is also used to predict injury risk across a range of sports. Strength and neuromuscular control of the muscles surrounding the hip are strong predictors of YBT performance. These same variables are also essential for running performance and the prevention of injury. Changes in injury-related running mechanics have been shown to occur along the course of a fatiguing run. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was twofold: 1) to evaluate the relationship between YBT performance and running mechanics and 2) to evaluate whether YBT performance can predict changes in injury-linked running mechanics after a run to fatigue. For the remainder of this paper the previous manuscripts will be referred to as Study 1 (A Multivariate Analysis of the Relationships Between Y-Balance Test Performance and Running Mechanics) and Study 2 (The Relationship Between Y-Balance Test Performance and Running Mechanics at the Hip Following Fatigue).Item Running as a cinematic subject(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2016) Smith, Mary Margaret McNeil; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Dennis AigEver since Eadweard Muybridge first photographed a man sprinting in 1887 running has worn its own path across the cinematic landscape. Running couples a natural cinematic impulse because, like cinema, it is a temporal and spatial experience. However, what truly makes running a profound cinematic subject is its expressive and perceptive nature. That is, when we are running we are not only engaged physically, but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Running forces us to go beyond our physical ourselves, to reach an enlightened state, which is in many ways similar to the embodied experience of watching a film. Cinema is widely viewed as a transformative medium that gives life to the invisible, subjective world of imagination, thoughts, and ideas. Running and cinema are ultimately visceral experiences with the power to reorient our subjectivity and thus transform our perceptions of the world and ourselves. In sum, the spatial, temporal, and reflexive similarities between running and cinema make the two a seamless pair. In order to argue running's inherent cinematic impulse and demonstrate these parallels between running and cinema this paper analyzes three running films: 'The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner' (1962), 'Spirit of the Marathon' (2007), and 'Finding Traction' (2014). It also looks at my film, 'There's a Light Beyond These Woods' (2016), and the stylistic and technical choices I made in order to capture an authentic running experience. In a world where increasingly more emphasis is being placed on personal narratives and self-reflexivity, perhaps running films are the ideal representation of how cinematic storytelling can inspire self-reflexivity and alter our embodied consciousness.Item The feasibility and value of Joggers Clubs for health and recreation(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1964) Victor, Oscar MelvinItem Progressive changes in the physical fitness of a female long-distance runner in training for the Western States 100(Montana State University - Bozeman, 1980) Dearborn, Donna WinnifredItem Selected lower extremity alignment and range of motion measurements and their relationships to lateral knee pain(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1980) Flood, Janice Elizabeth DesiItem The influence of lower body compression clothing on markers of running economy during submaximal treadmill running(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2011) Bakken, Bjorn; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Daniel P. HeilThe benefit of wearing lower-body compression clothing for individuals experiencing circulatory disorders has been well documented, yet little is known about benefits of wearing such clothing during endurance exercise. This was an investigation of the influence of lower-body compression clothing (stockings and shorts) on markers of running economy. METHODS: Eleven endurance runners (Mean±SD: 33±7 yrs, 67.9±15.5 kg) completed treadmill tests on three separate lab visits. First, subjects performed a running test to volitional exhaustion to measure maximal oxygen uptake (VO 2MAX) and heart rate at lactate threshold (HR LT). During the next visit, subjects ran for 90-mins at a speed that elicited 85% of HR LT (Mean±SD: 6.9±0.6 miles/hr for men and 6.7±0.5 miles/hr for women) while wearing one of two lower-body clothing conditions: compression shorts and stockings or running shorts. Subjects ran 90-mins again for the last visit at the same speed wearing the second clothing condition, the order of which was counterbalanced. During the 90-min runs, measures of oxygen uptake (VO 2), heart rate (HR), left-thigh accelerometry (AC), and blood pressure (BP) were summarized at the sixth minute of each successive 10-min time interval (T1-T9). Blood lactate (LA) was measured at the end of each time interval. Blood samples were also collected pre- and 24-hrs post-test to measure blood creatine-kinase (CK), an indicator of muscle damage. Values of VO 2 and HR were also summarized as the change for each subject from their T1 values (DeltaVO 2 and DeltaHR, respectively). Dependent variables were evaluated using a multivariate 2-factor repeated measures ANOVA with planned contrasts for post-hoc analyses. Comparisons were performed at the 0.05 alpha-level. RESULTS: Measures of VO 2, HR, BP, DeltaVO 2, DeltaHR, and CK were statistically similar at each time interval between conditions (P>0.05). Conversely, AC was significantly lower when wearing compression clothing during all time intervals (P<0.05). Measures of LA were significantly higher at T6 when wearing compression clothing (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: While wearing compression clothing, subjects experienced less movement of the thigh musculature (i.e., less AC), but no improvements in economy (i.e., lower VO 2 or DeltaVO 2) were observed. These results do not indicate any advantage to wearing lower-body compression clothing during endurance exercise.Item The effect of downhill running on impact shock and asymmetry(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2007) Killian, Megan Leigh; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Michael E. Hahn.Biomechanical studies are important for the prevention and treatment of injuries. Of special interest is running locomotion and its effect on impact shock. Impact shock magnitudes are often 2-3 times greater at the tibia during running compared to walking and have been reported to increase with decreasing grade conditions. The primary goal of this study was to determine the effect of downhill running on impact shock and asymmetry over varying grades. The secondary and tertiary goals of this study were to determine if there was significant symmetry difference between lower-limb preference groups and between training groups, respectively. Seventeen subjects (10 female, 7 male) were sampled from two populations with different types of downhill training (trained versus untrained) experience. The procedures included two visits, the first of treadmill familiarization and preference testing and the second for impact shock data collections. The data collection visit included a self-directed warm-up on the treadmill followed by a 16-minute running session that included four different running grade conditions (0%, -3%, -6% and -9%).