Browsing by Author "Nigg, Benno M"
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- ItemOpen AccessFootwear Decreases Gait Asymmetry during Running(PLoS ONE, 2015-10-21) Hoerzer, Stefan; Federolf, Peter A; Maurer, Christian; Baltich, Jennifer; Nigg, Benno MPrevious research on elderly people has suggested that footwear may improve neuromuscular control of motion. If footwear does in fact improve neuromuscular control, then such an influence might already be present in young, healthy adults. A feature that is often used to assess neuromuscular control of motion is the level of gait asymmetry. The objectives of the study were (a) to develop a comprehensive asymmetry index (CAI) that is capable of detecting gait asymmetry changes caused by external boundary conditions such as footwear, and (b) to use the CAI to investigate whether footwear influences gait asymmetry during running in a healthy, young cohort. Kinematic and kinetic data were collected for both legs of 15 subjects performing five barefoot and five shod over-ground running trials. Thirty continuous gait variables including ground reaction forces and variables of the hip, knee, and ankle joints were computed for each leg. For each individual, the differences between the variables for the right and left leg were calculated. Using this data, a principal component analysis was conducted to obtain the CAI. This study had two main outcomes. First, a sensitivity analysis suggested that the CAI had an improved sensitivity for detecting changes in gait asymmetry caused by external boundary conditions. The CAI may, therefore, have important clinical applications such as monitoring the progress of neuromuscular diseases (e.g. stroke or cerebral palsy). Second, the mean CAI for shod running (131.2 ± 48.5; mean ± standard deviation) was significantly lower (p = 0.041) than the CAI for barefoot running (155.7 ± 39.5). This finding suggests that in healthy, young adults gait asymmetry is reduced when running in shoes compared to running barefoot, which may be a result of improved neuromuscular control caused by changes in the afferent sensory feedback.
- ItemOpen AccessLocal metabolic rate during whole body vibration(American Physiological Society, 2013-03-14) Friesenbichler, Bernd; Nigg, Benno M; Dunn, Jeffrey F.Whole body vibration (WBV) platforms are currently used for muscle training and rehabilitation. However, the effectiveness of WBV training remains elusive, since scientific studies vary largely in the vibration parameters used. The origin of this issue may be related to a lack in understanding of the training intensity that is imposed on individual muscles by WBV. Therefore, this study evaluates the training intensity in terms of metabolic rate of two lower-extremity muscles during WBV under different vibration parameters. Fourteen healthy male subjects were randomly exposed to 0 (control)-, 10-, 17-, and 28-Hz vibrations while standing upright on a vibration platform. A near-infrared spectrometer was used to determine the gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles' metabolic rates during arterial occlusion. The metabolic rates during each vibration condition were significantly higher compared with control for both muscles (P < 0.05). Each increase in vibration frequency translated into a significantly higher metabolic rate than the previous lower frequency (P < 0.05) for both muscles. The current study showed that the local metabolic rate during WBV at 28 Hz was on average 5.4 times (GM) and 3.7 times (VL) of the control metabolic rate. The substantial changes in local metabolic rate indicate that WBV may represent a significant local training stimulus for particular leg muscles.
- ItemOpen AccessThe Effects of Increased Midsole Bending Stiffness of Sport Shoes on Muscle-Tendon Unit Shortening and Shortening Velocity: a Randomised Crossover Trial in Recreational Male Runners(2020-02-07) Cigoja, Sasa; Asmussen, Michael J; Firminger, Colin R; Fletcher, Jared R; Edwards, W. B; Nigg, Benno MAbstract Background Individual compliances of the foot-shoe interface have been suggested to store and release elastic strain energy via ligamentous and tendinous structures or by increased midsole bending stiffness (MBS), compression stiffness, and resilience of running shoes. It is unknown, however, how these compliances interact with each other when the MBS of a running shoe is increased. The purpose of this study was to investigate how structures of the foot-shoe interface are influenced during running by changes to the MBS of sport shoes. Methods A randomised crossover trial was performed, where 13 male, recreational runners ran on an instrumented treadmill at 3.5 m·s−1 while motion capture was used to estimate foot arch, plantar muscle-tendon unit (pMTU), and shank muscle-tendon unit (sMTU) behaviour in two conditions: (1) control shoe and (2) the same shoe with carbon fibre plates inserted to increase the MBS. Results Running in a shoe with increased MBS resulted in less deformation of the arch (mean ± SD; stiff, 7.26 ± 1.78°; control, 8.84 ± 2.87°; p ≤ 0.05), reduced pMTU shortening (stiff, 4.39 ± 1.59 mm; control, 6.46 ± 1.42 mm; p ≤ 0.01), and lower shortening velocities of the pMTU (stiff, − 0.21 ± 0.03 m·s−1; control, − 0.30 ± 0.05 m·s−1; p ≤ 0.01) and sMTU (stiff, − 0.35 ± 0.08 m·s−1; control, − 0.45 ± 0.11 m·s−1; p ≤ 0.001) compared to a control condition. The positive and net work performed at the arch and pMTU, and the net work at the sMTU were significantly lower in the stiff compared to the control condition. Conclusion The findings of this study showed that if a compliance of the foot-shoe interface is altered during running (e.g. by increasing the MBS of a shoe), the mechanics of other structures change as well. This could potentially affect long-distance running performance.