AUTHOR=Patoz Aurélien , Lussiana Thibault , Gindre Cyrille , Mourot Laurent 

TITLE=Predicting Temporal Gait Kinematics: Anthropometric Characteristics and Global Running Pattern Matter

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2020.625557

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2020.625557

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=Equations predicting stride frequency (SF) and duty factor (DF) solely based on running speed have been proposed. However, for a given speed, kinematics vary depending on the global running pattern (GRP). Hence, we first verified the validity of the aformentionned equations while accounting for GRP. Kinematics during three 50-m runs on a track (n=20) were used with curve fitting and linear mixed effects models. The percentage of explained variance was increased by ≥133% for DF when taking into account GRP. GRP was negatively related to DF (p=0.004) but not to SF (p=0.08), invalidating DF equation. Second, we assessed which parameters among anthropometric characteristics, sex, training volume, and GRP could relate to SF and DF in addition to speed, using kinematic data during five 30-s runs on a treadmill (n=54). SF and DF linearly increased and quadratically decreased with speed (p<0.001), respectively. However, SF was best described using a second order polynomial equation. SF and DF showed a non-negligible percentage of variance explained by random effects (≥28%). Age and height were positively and negatively related to SF (p≤0.05), respectively, while GRP was negatively related to DF (p<0.001), making them key parameters to estimate SF and DF, respectively, in addition to speed.