COMPARISON OF LOWER LIMB KINEMATICS OF MIDDLE-DISTANCE RUNNERS DURING TREADMILL RUNNING

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare angular kinematic parameters (angular velocity and range of motion) of lower limb among subjective effort intensities, through phase portrait analysis, during treadmill running. Seven male middle-distance runners of national level were requested to run in intensities of regenerative effort, long aerobic, 5/10km, 400/800m and 100/200m. Three complete running steps were recorded. Two-dimensional analysis methods were employed to analyse the lower limb movement. The results revealed that the shank and thigh angular range of motion and angular velocity increased with effort, except for in the 100/200m intensity, where the values of range of motion were not different from the 400/800m intensity. Phase portraits analysis is an interesting tool for the evaluation of the running technique.