ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomechanics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1641666
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Running Biomechanics: Bridging Research and Practical ApplicationsView all 9 articles
Differences in Lower Extremity Biomechanics, Shank Muscle Activation and Medial Gastrocnemius–Tendon Unit Behavior Between Novice and Experienced Non-Rearfoot Strike Runners
Provisionally accepted
- 1Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
- 2College of Physical Education, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
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Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the differences in lower extremity kinematics and kinetics, shank muscle activation, and medial gastrocnemius–tendon unit behavior between habitual rearfoot strike (RFS) runners and habitual non-rearfoot strike (NRFS) runners when adopting an NRFS pattern. Methods: Twelve male habitual RFS runners (novice NRFS runners, NN) and twelve male habitual NRFS runners (experienced NRFS runners, EN) were recruited. All participants were required to run at 9 km/h on the split-belt 3D instrumented treadmill using an NRFS pattern. 3D lower extremity kinematics and kinetics, surface electromyography (sEMG) signals of medial and lateral gastrocnemius (MG and LG), soleus (SOL), and tibialis anterior (TA), as well as dynamic ultrasound imaging of MG tendon unit behavior during running were collected synchronously. Intergroup comparisons were performed using independent samples t-tests and Mann–Whitney U tests, with Significance levels (α) adjusted via Bonferroni correction. Results: Compared to EN, NN exhibited significantly greater fascicle shortening lengths (NN: 1.54 ± 0.66 cm; EN: 0.94 ± 0.23 cm; p = 0.013) and muscle–tendon unit (MTU) shortening lengths (NN: 3.45 ± 0.51 cm; EN: 1.96 ± 0.23 cm; p < 0.001) of MG. No intergroup differences were observed in lower extremity kinematics, kinetics, or shank muscle activation. Conclusion: While novice and experienced NRFS runners exhibited similar kinematic, kinetic and muscle activation characteristics, the increased fascicle and muscle–tendon unit shortening lengths of medial gastrocnemius in novice NRFS runners potentially reflect reduced muscle contraction efficiency.
Keywords: FOOT STRIKE PATTERN, kinematics, Kinetics, Electromyography, ultrasound
Received: 05 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Suo, Lu, Wang, Wu, Deng, Li, Zhong and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lu Li, Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
Yunjian Zhong, College of Physical Education, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Weijie Fu, Key Laboratory of Exercise and Health Sciences of Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
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