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Longer toes and shorter lower legs allow sprinters to run faster
than others, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and
Pennsylvania State University compared the muscle architecture of
12 sprinters' and 12 non-athletes' feet and ankles.
Their aim at first was to try to help a National Football League
wide receiver improve his technique and training regime, but their
findings could also help anyone having trouble walking, study
co-author Sabrina Lee, a biomechanics researcher at Simon Fraser
University, told AFP.
Lee and her colleague Stephen Piazza of Penn State used
ultrasound imaging to measure their subjects' Achilles tendon in
motion and calculate the tendon leverage.
They also measured the length of their toes and plugged it all
into a computer model.
"We found the greatest acceleration occurred when the Achilles
tendon lever arm is the shortest and the toes are longest," Lee
said.
A 100-meter (109 yards) race can be won or lost in the first few
strides after sprinters launch from starting blocks.
The effectiveness of an accelerating sprinter's push off depends
on the leverage that calf muscles have when pulling the heel off
the ground as the toes press down.
Lee explained that a shorter lever arm "generates more force" to
propel sprinters forward at the crucial start of a race, while
longer toes provide "a larger contact surface with the ground" to
apply the force.
"We looked at the acceleration phase when propulsion is very
important," she said.
The study, "Built for Speed: Musculoskeletal Structure and
Sprinting Ability," appears in the current Journal of Experimental
Biology.
The findings do not necessarily prove that fast runners are born
fast, as some professional trainers believe, because it remains
unclear what effect training itself can have on influencing the
shape of foot bones, Lee noted.
If joint or muscle architecture can indeed be changed through
exercise, she said, "this research could help people with walking
problems."
"This isn't just for sprinters," she said.
than others, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and
Pennsylvania State University compared the muscle architecture of
12 sprinters' and 12 non-athletes' feet and ankles.
Their aim at first was to try to help a National Football League
wide receiver improve his technique and training regime, but their
findings could also help anyone having trouble walking, study
co-author Sabrina Lee, a biomechanics researcher at Simon Fraser
University, told AFP.
Lee and her colleague Stephen Piazza of Penn State used
ultrasound imaging to measure their subjects' Achilles tendon in
motion and calculate the tendon leverage.
They also measured the length of their toes and plugged it all
into a computer model.
"We found the greatest acceleration occurred when the Achilles
tendon lever arm is the shortest and the toes are longest," Lee
said.
A 100-meter (109 yards) race can be won or lost in the first few
strides after sprinters launch from starting blocks.
The effectiveness of an accelerating sprinter's push off depends
on the leverage that calf muscles have when pulling the heel off
the ground as the toes press down.
Lee explained that a shorter lever arm "generates more force" to
propel sprinters forward at the crucial start of a race, while
longer toes provide "a larger contact surface with the ground" to
apply the force.
"We looked at the acceleration phase when propulsion is very
important," she said.
The study, "Built for Speed: Musculoskeletal Structure and
Sprinting Ability," appears in the current Journal of Experimental
Biology.
The findings do not necessarily prove that fast runners are born
fast, as some professional trainers believe, because it remains
unclear what effect training itself can have on influencing the
shape of foot bones, Lee noted.
If joint or muscle architecture can indeed be changed through
exercise, she said, "this research could help people with walking
problems."
"This isn't just for sprinters," she said.