Kinesiology Commons^™

A New Approach To Modeling Vertical Stiffness In Heel-Toe Distance Runners, Iain Hunter

Faculty Publications

Various models have been used to describe distance running technique. Among these, the mass-spring model is fairly simple to use and apply, but when employed as a model, does not predict vertical force accurately especially when a heel strike is exhibited. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the mass-spring model can be modified to provide a simple, yet accurate prediction of ground reaction forces in distance running. Sixteen subjects ran on a force instrumented treadmill. Vertical forces during running at a self-selected pace were collected at 500 Hz. Vertical stiffness was calculated using the conventional mass-spring model …