Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users, please click the view more button below to purchase a copy of this dissertation from Proquest.
(Some titles may also be available free of charge in our Open Access Dissertation Collection, so please check there first.)
Running economy: Adult vs. child models
Abstract
Pediatric exercise scientists generally agree that children are less economical during running than adults. Most research in this area has examined economy at a common speed which may introduce a work intensity difference across age groups. The purpose of this study was to test the current assumption and to identify predictors of running economy in boys (n = 21) and men (n = 25). The caloric cost relative to mass (F = 43.3, p $<$.05), HR (F = 31.1, p $<$.05), and ventilatory equivalent (Veq) (F = 20.9, p $<$.05) were higher for the boys at the absolute running speed, but there were no differences at the relative speed. The men had significantly greater mass distribution based on mesomorphy (F = 4.61, p $<$.05), surface area/mass (F = 175.8, p $<$.05), and leg volume/leg length (F = 59.3, p $<$.05) measures. Biomechanical differences between men and boys were limited to stride frequency (SF) and length (SL) with the boys having greater SF (abs: F = 13.2, p $<$.05; F = 64.6, p $<$.05) and the men longer SL (abs: F = 111.5, p $<$.05; F = 176.3, p $<$.05) at both speeds. However, SL/leg length was greater for the boys at the absolute speed, and for the men at the relative speed. The boys were significantly more flexible than the men (F = 5.48, p $<$.05), but there were no differences in strain. Predictors of running economy for the adults included endomorphy, ectomorphy, flexibility, SF, SL, HR, mass, and whole body strain (abs: R$\sp2$ =.92; rel: R$\sp2$ =.96). Leg strain, mass, SF, SL, HR, flexibility and ectomorphy were predictors for the boys (abs: R$\sp2$ =.92; rel: R$\sp2$ =.92). Although there were common predictors, the effects of flexibility and strain were opposite for the two groups. Where stiffness (less flexibility and strain) is associated with more economical running in adults, the opposite is true for children. This may be due to less developed muscle and tendon in the children. The results of this study suggest that comparisons made between adults and children during running at a common speed introduce a confounding effect of work intensity which can directly influence physiological response. This problem appears to be eliminated by having each subject run at a speed set relative to leg length. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Subject Area
Physical education|Physical therapy|Physiology
Recommended Citation
Maliszewski, Ann Frances, "Running economy: Adult vs. child models" (1994). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9420656.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9420656