Verheul, J, Gregson, W, Lisboa, P, Vanrenterghem, J and Robinson, MA (2018) Whole-body biomechanical load in running-based sports: the validity of estimating ground reaction forces from segmental. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. ISSN 1440-2440

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Abstract

Objective: Unlike physiological loads, the biomechanical loads of training in running-based sports are still largely unexplored. This study, therefore, aimed to assess the validity of estimating ground reaction forces (GRF), as a measure of external whole-body biomechanical loading, from segmental accelerations.
Methods: Fifteen team-sport athletes performed accelerations, decelerations, 90° cuts and straight running at different speeds including sprinting. Full-body kinematics and GRF were recorded with a three-dimensional motion capture system and a single force platform respectively. GRF profiles were estimated as the sum of the product of all fifteen segmental masses and accelerations, or a reduced number of segments.
Results: Errors for GRF profiles estimated from fifteen segmental accelerations were low (1-2 N·kg-1) for low-speed running, moderate (2-3 N·kg-1) for accelerations, 90° cuts and moderate-speed running, but very high (>4 N·kg-1) for decelerations and high-speed running. Similarly, impulse (2.3-11.1%), impact peak (9.2-28.5%) and loading rate (20.1-42.8%) errors varied across tasks. Moreover, mean errors increased from 3.26±1.72 N·kg-1 to 6.76±3.62 N·kg-1 across tasks when the number of segments was reduced.
Conclusions: Accuracy of estimated GRF profiles and loading characteristics was dependent on task, and errors substantially increased when the number of segments was reduced. Using a direct mechanical approach to estimate GRF from segmental accelerations is thus unlikely to be a valid method to assess whole-body biomechanical loading across different dynamic and high-intensity activities. Researchers and practitioners should, therefore, be very cautious when interpreting accelerations from one or several segments, as these are unlikely to accurately represent external whole-body biomechanical loads.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1106 Human Movement And Sports Science, 1117 Public Health And Health Services
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions:	Applied Mathematics (merged with Comp Sci 10 Aug 20) Sport & Exercise Sciences
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date Deposited:	11 Dec 2018 10:18
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2021 09:52
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9797

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