Observation of the triceps surae's passive stiffness during an incremental running protocol

Details

Supervisors

Nguyen, Anh Phong ; Dayez Martin

Faculty

Faculté des sciences de la motricité

Degree label

Master [60] en kinésithérapie et réadaptation

Abstract

Introduction: the first aim of this study was to propose a way to enable a follow up of passive stiffness of triceps surae muscle, during an incremental running protocol. The secondary aim was to illustrate the influence of triceps surae passive stiffness on running biomechanical parameters. Method: 17 participants (3 women / 14 men) followed the TUB2 running protocol on a treadmill. Passive stiffness measurements were assessed on gastrocnemii muscles and Achilles tendon, using MyotonPro. Measurements were conducted before, during, and after the test. Results: Our results have shown that passive stiffness of the triceps surae between pre and post test, decreases significantly except for the Achilles tendon, at rest. Moreover, during the test, stiffness significantly increased at low intensity, then, values came back to baseline as the intensity increased. Those results were significant only for values in standing position Conclusion: The current findings suggest that passive stiffness of the triceps surae muscle needs further research to explain phenomena like the ones observed in this present study. Tendon stiffness has not had the same behavior after an incremental run, at rest, or in standing position, compared to baseline values. Moreover, increase of stiffness has been observed in the beginning of the test at low %MAS. These variations could be explained by many factors (fatigue, exercise duration, tendon quality, exercises intensity).