Study to Find the Best Running Retraining Method to Reduce Ground Contact Time Using Verbal, Auditory, and Visual Feedback in Healthy Runners Aged 17 to 60

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to find the most effective running retraining technique to reduce ground contact time in healthy runners. The study will compare three common running retraining methods to see how they affect ground contact time and other biomechanical variables during running at a comfortable speed. The goal is to provide helpful guidance for clinicians and researchers interested in running injury prevention and performance. Participants will experience three running conditions at their self-selected comfortable speed for a 30-minute run. The first condition involves verbal cues to pull your foot off the ground as quickly as you can every 15 seconds. The second uses a metronome set 10% above the runners preferred step rate to provide auditory feedback. The third condition offers real-time visual feedback of ground contact time via a commercial inertial measurement unit, aiming for a target 5% below their baseline ground contact time. During the study, participants will run at baseline and then under each of the three retraining conditions. Researchers will measure ground contact time, step rate, average vertical loading rate, braking impulse, and step length before and during each condition. Participants will also rate exertion, difficulty, and naturalness of each technique. The study will monitor these outcomes within a single session to evaluate which retraining method best reduces ground contact time and is easiest to perform.

Examining the Most Effective Method to Reduce Running Ground Contact Time