Word: runners
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...second study in the same journal, researchers at Iowa State University used computer modeling to figure out how the length of a runner's stride might change the force applied to his or her bones and thereby affect the risk of stress fractures. Researchers recruited 10 male participants, each of whom typically ran about three miles per day, and calculated their risk of experiencing a stress fracture - about 9% over 100 days. By observing the participants running at varying stride lengths and recording the amount of force their foot strikes exerted on the ground, researchers were able to estimate...
Perhaps because it seems intuitively true, the notion persists that running, especially when done long-term and over long distances, is bad for the joints. Indeed, it would be hard to think otherwise when with each foot strike, a runner's knee withstands a force equal to eight times his or her body weight - for a 150-lb. person, that's about 1,200 lb. of impact, step after step...
...year, Australian researchers writing in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism found that people who exercised vigorously had thicker and healthier knee cartilage than their sedentary peers. That suggests the exercisers may have also enjoyed a lower risk of osteoarthritis, which is caused by breakdown and loss of cartilage. (Read "Runner Trend: Going Barefoot...
...reason is less air time, researchers say - the less time a runner's feet spend airborne, the less force they strike the ground with. Still, the results of a mathematical model are difficult to re-create in real life, especially since it takes a fair amount of practice to adjust to a shortened stride. Runners who abbreviate their stride try instinctively to quicken their pace to compensate. That can negate any protective effect of stride shortening - when you speed up, the force on the bone increases proportionately...
Study author Brent Edwards, now at the University of Illinois in Chicago, says he "would never recommend stride reduction to a competitive runner," but he suggests the technique for people with a history of stress fractures, like former athletes. The biggest risk factor for stress fractures, he notes, is simply having had such a fracture in the past. But the best advice for runners wishing to reduce injuries is to keep running; that is, run consistently and avoid long periods of inactivity. That may be especially hard during the snowy winter months, but runners should...