Presenter: Chris Gronseth
Mentor: Li-Shan Chou
Poster: 38
Major: Human Physiology
Recent research on foot and ankle injuries has initiated debates about the ideal foot strike position in running. This study chose to investigate whether ankle plantarflexion strength (PFS) or dorsiflexion strength (DFS) was related to a runner’s foot strike position at initial contact. Twenty-five subjects, who ran at least 20 miles per week, participated in the study and ran continuous laps of ~40 meters in the UO Motion Analysis Laboratory. Foot strike indices (FSI) were calculated for each limb (n=50) using center of pressure data obtained from three force plates located in series. Isometric PFS and DFS were collected using a Biodex System 3 dynamometer. A one-way ANOVA was used to test for differences between strength among forefoot, rearfoot, and midfoot strikers while a Pearson correlation analysis was used to test the strength of the relationship between FSI and both PFS and DFS. No differences in PFS (p = .44) or DFS (p = .64), were seen among groups. No significant correlations were found between FSI and PFS or between FSI and DFS, which indicates that there was no relationship between ankle muscle strength and foot strike indices. This study was limited by a relatively small sample size and subject self-selection of shoe type. To better understand the relationship between FSI and muscle strength, future studies should consider more subjects and the influence of knee and hip strength on foot strike patterns.