45 It is likely that runners habituated to rearfoot striking and/or TS footwear adapt to new foot strike patterns and/or footwear in a similar manner, explaining the lack of change in kvert with foot strike pattern and/or footwear, as found here. MK-8776 solubility dmso On the contrary, Divert et al.8
reported increases in kvert during running barefoot compared to shoed. These authors suggested that the increase in kleg during barefoot running was not sufficient to maintain kvert constant, 8 as opposed to when running on a new surface where adjustments are proposed sufficient. 45 In our study, Δy was not influenced by footwear despite a decrease in tc and an increase in f observed in MS. We can suppose that wearing MS did not induce enough changes in the kleg of our runners to cause a marked increase in kvert, which might have been different if tested barefoot. A second purpose of our study
was to describe the effects of slope on kleg and kvert. We have recently reported a decrease in Cr when wearing MS compared to TS that was independent of slope gradients ranging from −8% to +8%. 6 Thus, we assumed a constant difference in stiffness between MS and TS regardless of slope, which selleck kinase inhibitor was confirmed for kleg. As noted above, the symmetric oscillation assumption of the spring-mass model is not fully respected during slope running, like during sprint accelerations or running on a curve. 46 and 47 This implies a certain limit to studying stiffness on slopes and our results should be viewed with some caution. However, it is important to investigate situations habitually encountered by runners, with the
investigation conducted here complementing the described Unoprostone changes in Cr and kinematics with slope and footwear. When running downhill, we found that kvert remained constant compared to level, but became greater when running uphill. In our prior investigations, we found greater knee flexion angles during downhill compared to uphill running. 6 This biomechanical adaptation is reported to provide a mechanical cushioning that attenuates the impact forces at ground contact, 48 which are considerably higher during downhill compared to flat and/or uphill running. 49 An increase in knee flexion during ground contact also increases the vertical displacement of the center of mass and thereby causes the kvert to decrease. 28 Moreover, our previous kinematic data suggest a greater use of midfoot and/or forefoot strike patterns than rearfoot during positive compared to negative slope running. 6 The rearfoot strike pattern is reported to induce a higher tc 7 that can also cause an increase in the vertical displacement of the center of mass 50 and contribute to decreasing kvert during downhill running. Other studies have shown that increases in f with decreases in Δy during level running cause increases in kvert.