The Answer to Running-Related Knee Injuries
Running has been a popular hobby and sport for the past half century. However, countless runners every year are injured, studies showing that at least one in every three runners every year are injured, and 42% of these injuries are knee-related. With this in mind, the research conducted attempts to answer the question: what running form is best for the knees? To answer this question, thirty runners ran over a force plate which was held firmly in the ground. Each runner ran over the force plate four times; once with shoes and using forefoot-strike form, once with shoes and using heel-strike form, once without shoes and using forefoot-strike form, and another time without shoes and using heel-strike form. The resultant forces will be measured to determine the rate of loading, a value determined by the initial slope of the force-time graph and that is measured in bodyweights to nullify the runners varying masses. The averages for all runners’ rate of loading were compared for each form using two-sample t-tests. The results showed that running with shoes and using forefoot-strike form resulted in the lowest rate of loading, that running without shoes and using forefoot-strike form resulted in the next lowest rate of loading, that running with shoes and using heel-strike form resulted in the next lowest rate of loading, and that running without shoes and using heel-strike form resulted in the highest rate of loading. This supports the conclusion that forefoot-strike running has a lower rate of loading than heel-strike and that running with shoes is more beneficial than running without shoes. This research is relevant in assisting athletes, primarily long-distance runners, in the understanding of their running techniques so that the appropriate actions may be taken to aid in the prevention of knee injuries.
Research Done By:
Ryan Kreiter
Sterling Heights High School
Nathan Pedder
Sterling Heights High School
Warren Consolidated Schools