Running differences between the young and old

Running differences between the young and old

The Brazilians recently examined lower body extremity running differences between young and adult runners. This study compared young adults aged 26 to 36 years and older adults between 67 and 73. All the tests were conducted on a treadmill with 3D video equipment that captured the movement patterns of both groups while they ran on common settings. The video specifically looked at the lower leg, ankle and knee during the stance phase of the running motion.

After the kinematics (the study of pure motion without regard to mass) were established variable selected data resulting from the test was calculated.

The older adults each had a substantial decrease in their stride length and ran with a faster stride frequency. Younger runners had greater knee flexion and extension and less internal/external rotation of the tibia while the older runners showed an increased external rotation of their foot. This means they were pointing their toes out farther to the side at the heel strike than the younger runners were during the testing.

The most disturbing part of this testing report was the fact that older runners run with less synonymy between their ankle and knee movements effectively compromising their coordination patterns. This in itself could be one of the major reasons older runners get hurt as they run.