Metabolic, Cardiopulmonary, and Gait Profiles of Recently Injured and Noninjured Runners

Abstract

Objective To examine whether runners recovering from a lower body musculoskeletal injury have different metabolic, cardiopulmonary, and gait responses compared with healthy runners. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Research laboratory at an academic institution. Methods Healthy runners (n = 50) were compared with runners who were recently injured but had returned to running (n = 50). Both groups were participating in similar cross-training modalities such as swimming, weight training, biking, and yoga. Running gait was analyzed on a treadmill using 3-dimensional motion capture, and metabolic and cardiopulmonary measures were captured simultaneously with a portable metabolic analyzer. Main Outcome Measures Rate of oxygen consumption, heart rate, ventilation, carbohydrate and fat oxidation values, gait temporospatial parameters and range of motion measures (ROM) in the sagittal plane, energy expenditure, and vertical displacement of the body’s center of gravity (COG). Results The self-selected running speed was different between the injured and healthy runners (9.7 ± 1.1 km/h and 10.6 ± 1.1 km/h, respectively; P = .038). No significant group differences were noted in any metabolic or cardiopulmonary variable while running at the self-selected or standard speed (13.6 km/h). The vertical displacement of the COG was less in the injured group (8.4 ± 1.4 cm and 8.9 ± 1.4, respectively; P = .044). ROM about the right ankle in the sagittal plane at the self-selected running speed during the gait cycle was less in the injured runners compared with the healthy runners (P < .05). Conclusions Runners with a recent lower body injury who have returned to running have similar cardiopulmonary and metabolic responses to running as healthy runners at the self-selected and standard speeds; this finding may be due in part to participation in cross-training modes that preserve cardiopulmonary and metabolic adaptations. Injured runners may conserve motion by minimizing COG displacement and ankle joint ROM during a gait cycle.

High-Intensity Cycling Training

“…Therefore, introducing other forms of training that target these components may improve running performance and help reduce orthopaedic injuries (18,19,37). Furthermore, cross-training has been found to be an effective method to maintain training adaptations in runners during recovery following injury (39).…”

A bioaccessible fraction of parboiled germinated brown rice exhibits a higher anti-inflammatory activity than that of brown rice

“…3 Germination is a strategy to enhance the amounts of nutrients and bioactive compounds in order to improve the nutritional quality of cereals including brown rice, 4 barley, 5 wheat 6 and oat, 7 as well as enhancing texture and digestibility. Increased amounts of GABA, 8 γ-oryzanol, 8,9 vitamin E 10,11 and several phenolic acids 12 have been reported in germinated brown rice. Germinated brown rice also has been shown to be anti-hyperlipidemic in rats, 13,14 anti-hypertensive in spontaneously hypertensive rats, 15 anti-tumorigenic for small airway epi-thelial cell lines 16 and in rats with azoxymethane-induced colon cancer, 17 and anti-diabetic in healthy human subjects 18 and in free-living patients with impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes.…”