New tests to reduce running impact injuries
25th May 2014
New tests are now available to assess risks of developing common running injuries, including stress fractures, shin splints, and plantar fasciitis.
Why measure tibia impact loading?
- Assess peak loading: Recognising peak tibial loading during running and jumping actions is essential for identifying risk to lower leg injury. Applied data acquisition can provide effective feedback for footwear selection; running technique and specific pre/rehabilitation exercises.
- Assess the rate of loading at specific threshold: The frequency of tibial loading impact is also associated with lower leg injury. Thus, identifying the number and period of repeated submaximal loads to the lower leg is central to designing bespoke training and exercise programs to mitigate risk. This assessment can identify the number of occasions during training that tibial loading impact exceeds a specific threshold.
- Biofeedback training: Gait retraining using real-time biofeedback is an effective means of reducing impact loading without negatively affecting running economy. Studies have demonstrated that 4 weeks of gait retraining using a visual presentation of tibial accelerations on a monitor in front of a treadmill can significantly reduce tibial impact by ~30%.
