Step Rate in Recreational Runners

Mayo Clinic38 enrolled

Overview

This will be a pilot study to determine if a 6 week home training program can increase preferred step rate (cadence) in recreational runners. Increase in step rate has been correlated with decreased stress at lower limb joints in runners. This has the potential of decreasing overuse injuries in this population. Research participants will have their preferred cadence evaluated at the beginning of the study. The athletes will be randomly assigned to two groups. One group will continue to train without intervention and the other group will train at a cadence of 10% higher than their preferred step rate. At the end of 6 weeks the participants will have their preferred cadence reevaluated using the same method as pre-participation cadence was determined. The investigators hypothesis the preferred running cadence of recreational runners following the intervention will be 5-10% greater than prior to the intervention and the increased cadence will be maintained for 6 months following the intervention.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Gait Disorder, Sensorimotor

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria: * healthy male or female runners * 18 years of age or greater * run two or more times per week most weeks of the year for at least 4 years * cadence of 85 strides/min or less as determined at initial evaluation * no musculoskeletal injuries or illnesses that would limit running in the last 6 months * currently running at least 15 miles a week Exclusion criteria: * baseline running cadence greater than 85 strides/min * inability to run * cardiovascular disease * greater than 2 cardiovascular risk factors * peripheral vascular disease * neurological disease * musculoskeletal injury or disease that causes pain with running

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Running cadence

Running cadence (steps per minute) will be evaluated using a running cadence sensor to determine if the intervention subjects increased their running cadence by 10 steps per minute following the intervention.

Time frame: 6 weeks