The graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences Unai Miqueleiz Erburu analyzed in his doctoral thesis, defended at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA)Biomechanics of running in athletes of different sporting levels and its relationship with performance variables and sports injuries.
Furthermore, in his research led by Professor Roberto Aguado Jiménez of UPNAThe author has developed software for biomechanical analysis of athletes, which attempts to reduce their injury rate and help increase their sports performance.
In his thesis, the researcher used accelerometrya technique that analyzes a person’s acceleration as they move. With this methodology, it has been observed that recreational runners struggle to they change their stride frequency (steps per minute) when running outdoors in their training environments, while changing their stride length (the distance we travel between steps, expressed in meters) to adapt to changes in speed produced by factors such as uneven terrain or fatigue, among others.
Additionally, when recreational runners they run at high speed constant on a treadmill, slightly increasing your stride frequency This represents a decrease in energy costs. When it comes to outdoor running, recreational runners would be more efficient if they increased their stride cadence, not their stride length, to accommodate the speed changes characteristic of outdoor running.
On the other hand, the measurement error presented by the accelerometer used in doctoral thesisand this can be applied to any other measuring instrument used.
As the author of the thesis explains, when changes occur over time in a given variable (biomechanical variable in this case), or when analyzing the differences between groups in said variables, the differences found They must always be older than the measurement error of the instrument used. “If this were not the case, it would not be possible to conclude that the changes or differences are real,” explains Unai Miqueleiz.
This measurement error was used by the thesis author to analyze gender and athletic modality differences in the biomechanical variables studied.
“For example, it was found that men ran with longer stride lengths and lower stride frequencies than women,” illustrates Unai Miqueleiz.
Furthermore, the vertical displacement of the center of mass (how much our center of mass moves up and down while we run) was greater in men, but on the other hand, the lateral shift of the center of mass (how much we move our trunk laterally while running) was greater in women for the speeds studied (9-21 kilometers per hour). “In general, women moved their trunks more than men at lower speeds, and vice versa at higher speeds, which could be related to energy cost, injury, and athletic performance,” he says.
Unai Miqueleiz Erburu He graduated in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and is a physiotherapist at the Center for Studies, Research and Sports Medicine (CEIMD), as well as at Club Atlético d’Osasuna. Develop your entire professional activity with top athletes.
