- Title
- Running biomechanics and movement variability in male sub-elite athletes with a history of hamstring injury
- Creator
- Blyton, Sarah
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2022
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- Recurrence rate of hamstring injury is disproportionately high compared to other soft tissue injuries in sport. Hamstrings are critical for high-speed running performance, and this is also when the hamstring muscles are most susceptible to injury. The overall purpose of this thesis was to quantify running strategies in athletes most at risk of sustaining a future hamstring injury (i.e., athletes who have previously sustained a hamstring injury) in terms of biomechanics and movement variability. Three studies were undertaken to meet the overall purpose of this thesis. A systematic review (Study 1) synthesized current evidence from 17 cross-sectional and case-control studies pertaining to the impact of musculoskeletal injury on movement variability in running gait. The review found that running variability significantly differed between athletes with and without a history of hamstring injury in 73% of studies in populations with current injury-related symptoms and 43% of studies in asymptomatic or recovered populations. The systematic review findings informed the role of variability in musculoskeletal injuries, that has been sparsely researched. Exploring these running gait variations in the future may afford additional insight into re-injury mechanisms post hamstring injury; this led to cross-sectional Study 2 and 3 presented in this thesis. Study 2 investigated the three-dimensional running biomechanics and magnitude of movement variability employed during ten 15-metre overground run trials by sub-elite male athletes post-hamstring injury (n = 16), compared to a control group (n = 13). Study 3 examined the structure (i.e., predictability and divergence of movement trajectories) of running gait on a treadmill in sub-athletes' post-hamstring injury (n = 15) compared to a control group (n = 15), using nonlinear analysis. Results from these experimental studies (Study 2 and Study 3) revealed that athletes with a previous hamstring injury had similar biomechanics (joint angles and moments) during running gait to uninjured athletes (Study 2) and the predictability of these joint angles (from non-linear movement variability analysis were mostly comparable to uninjured athletes. In a novel finding, joint moment variability was reduced for several lower limb and trunk joint moments, and the divergence of movement trajectories were smaller for the ankle joint and thoracolumbar segment. These small deviations from ‘optimal’ running gait may have an exponential impact, especially at greater running velocities. It may indicate that sports-related movements such as running, are not adaptive and flexible enough to meet the athletic demands in a complex sporting environment post hamstring injury, which may in turn contribute to re-injury. Flexibility in an individual motor pattern of running gait require further attention in the rehabilitation stages after hamstring injury, to achieve optimal function for athletes returning to sport.
- Subject
- biomechanics; motor control; hamstring injury; running strategies
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1513328
- Identifier
- uon:56711
- Rights
- Copyright 2022 Sarah Blyton
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT01 | Thesis | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download | ||
| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Abstract | 264 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |