Soft Tissue Vibrations and Muscle Tuning During Heel-Toe Running

Impact forces in heel-toe running have been a major focus of research in biomechanics over the last three decades. The results of the many studies have revealed subject specific responses to different impact interface properties and the reasons for the many different adaptations are not well understood. The concept of muscle tuning (Nigg, 1997; Nigg and Wakeling, 2001), proposed to explain these reactions, suggests: (1) Impact forces are an input signal to the body that initiate vibrations of the soft tissue compartments; (2) The body responds to this input signal with a muscle adaptation; (3) The goal of this adaptation is to minimize the soft tissue vibrations by changing the mechanical properties of the soft tissue compartments. Direct evidence of muscle tuning during dynamic activities has not yet been provided. The purpose of this project was to investigate the possibility of a muscle tuning reaction during heel-toe running.

Using different shoe midsole or surface properties and running speeds to change the input signal frequency the relationship between impact force characteristics, EMG activity and vibration magnitude was investigated. Changes in EMG intensity and/or mean frequency occurred in response to different impact conditions. In running a change in EMG preactivation intensity was correlated with the impact force frequency characteristics. While the magnitude of the soft tissue vibrations was not affected by the input signal frequency. However, it was shown that if the input signal is unexpectedly changed and thus a muscle reaction has not occurred that an increase in the vibration magnitude does occur. A muscle reaction following this unexpected input signal change did not occur for the next landing on the ipsilateral leg. Finally in a controlled impact situation it was shown that the change EMG intensity and/or mean frequency in response to a change in the impact interface conditions was related to changes in the damping properties of the related soft tissue compartment. Muscle activity during landing is related to a number of tasks (leg geometry and stiffness) (Nigg, 1997), the results of this project suggest, in agreement with the muscle tuning proposal, it is also related to a vibration control task.

Year	Entry
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Year

Entry

1998

Matsumoto Y, Griffin MJ. Dynamic response of the standing human body exposed to vertical vibration: influence of posture and vibration magnitude. J Sound Vibrat. April 23, 1998;212(1):85-107.

2002

Rubin C, Turner AS, Mallinckrodt C, Jerome C, Mcleod K, Bain S. Mechanical strain, induced noninvasively in the high-frequency domain, is anabolic to cancellous bone, but not cortical bone. Bone. March 2002;30(3):445-452.

1997

Randall JM, Matthews RT, Stiles MA. Resonant frequencies of standing humans. Ergonomics. 1997;40(9):879-886.

1995

Gerritsen KGM, van den Bogert AJ, Nigg BM. Direct dynamics simulation of the impact phase in heel-toe running. J Biomech. June 1995;28(6):661-668.

1997

Stefanyshyn DJ, Nigg BM. Mechanical energy contribution of the metatarsophalangeal joint to running and sprinting. J Biomech. November–December 1997;30(11-12):1081-1085.