COORDINATION VARIABILITY - FORCE RELATIONSHIPS DURING A TEMPO RUN

Abstract

As people fatigue, impact force characteristics experienced during running are thought to increase and thus may place the individual at a greater risk for an overuse injury. It is still largely unknown as to how the vertical ground reaction forces may impact the intrasegmental coordination variability, a component in the production of movement which has been linked to adaptability and flexibility. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine how load characteristics interact with the coordinative variability during a tempo run at a self-selected pace. Fourteen individuals participated in the study and completed a 25 min run at a high level of exertion (RPE > 14). Results demonstrated that the impact characteristics did not change over time but that coordinative variability changed during he initial portion of the run. This suggests that the participants adapted their coordination variability to counteract the forces incurred during the run.