The effects of dorso-lumbar motion restriction on energy use and center of mass movement during running

Abstract

The effects of restricting dorso-lumbar spine mobility on oxygen consumption in runners was investigated, as was vertical movement of the body's center of mass. Thermoplastic casting material was fashioned into a rigid orthosis and used to restrict spinal motion during running. Volunteers ran on a treadmill at 2.78 m/sec, under normal conditions and with spinal motion restricted. Oxygen consumption was assessed via a Douglas bag set-up. Separately, vertical movement of the center of mass was assessed with a Panasonic recorder. RESULTS: Casted running resulted in an increase in oxygen consumption (p < 0.01). Casted running resulted in less vertical movement of the body's center of mass (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Spinal mobility has statistically significant effects on the energy used during running and on the vertical movement of the center of mass. A running style that causes the body to use more energy is inefficient and can lead to earlier onset of fatigue. It can make the runner more prone to overuse injuries. We hypothesize that less movement of the center of mass vertically can affect stride length, lead to more strides being used to cover a specific distance and thus could contribute to earlier onset of fatigue and overuse injury. More research needs to be done on this topic.

Keywords: Energy utilization; Movement of center of mass; Overuse injury; Oxygen consumption; Spinal mobility.