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Effect of stride length on symptoms of exercise‐induced muscle damage during a repeated bout of downhill running
Author(s) -
Eston R. G.,
Lemmey A. B.,
McHugh P.,
Byrne C.,
Walsh S. E.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-0838.2000.010004199.x
Subject(s) - isometric exercise , tenderness , stride , creatine kinase , medicine , delayed onset muscle soreness , muscle damage , eccentric , physical therapy , physical medicine and rehabilitation , cardiology , surgery , physics , quantum mechanics
The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of changes in stride length on the symptoms of exercise‐induced muscle damage (EIMD) during a repeated bout of downhill running in a group of 18 men and women. Muscle tenderness, plasma creatine kinase activity (CK) and maximal voluntary isometric force were measured before and after two downhill runs, with each run separated by 5 weeks. The first downhill run was at the preferred stride frequency (PSF). Participants were then randomly allocated to one of three sex‐balanced groups with equal numbers of men and women: overstride (−8% PSF), understride (+8% PSF) and normal stride frequency for the second downhill run. Stride length had no effect ( P >0.05) on muscle tenderness, CK or isometric peak force. Increases in muscle tenderness ( P <0.001) and CK were lower ( P <0.05) following the second downhill run, although there was no difference in the pattern and extent of the strength decrement between the two runs. There were also no differences ( P >0.05) in muscle tenderness, CK or the relative strength loss between the men and the women. Results suggest that the symptoms of EIMD are unaffected by gender and small alterations to the normal stride pattern during constant velocity downhill running. The observation that muscle tenderness and CK were reduced following a repeated bout of similar eccentric exercise is consistent with the phenomenon known as the ‘repeated bout effect’ of muscle damage.