Energy cost of running uphill as compared to running on the level with impeding horizontal forces.

Purpose: We have previously shown that accelerated running on flat terrain is biomechanically equivalent to running uphill at a constant speed. This hypothesis was further investigated comparing the energy cost of running at a constant speed either uphill, or on flat terrain against an equivalent horizontal impeding force, mimicking acceleration.

Methods: Steady-state O consumption and the corresponding energy cost (per unit body mass and distance) were determined on 12 male subjects during treadmill running at speeds between 2.

Mechanical and metabolic power in accelerated running-Part II: team sports.

Purpose: This manuscript is devoted to discuss the interplay between velocity and acceleration in setting metabolic and mechanical power in team sports.

Methods: To this aim, an essential step is to assess the individual Acceleration-Speed Profile (ASP) by appropriately analysing training sessions or matches. This allows one to estimate maximal mechanical and metabolic power, including that for running at constant speed, and hence to determine individual thresholds thereof.

Mechanical and Metabolic Power in Accelerated Running-PART I: the 100-m dash.

Purpose: Acceleration phases require additional mechanical and metabolic power, over and above that for running at constant velocity. The present study is devoted to a paradigmatic example: the 100-m dash, in which case the forward acceleration is very high initially and decreases progressively to become negligible during the central and final phases.

Methods: The mechanical ([Formula: see text]) and metabolic ([Formula: see text]) power were analysed for both Bolt's extant world record and for medium level sprinters.

Energy cost differences between marathon runners and soccer players: Constant versus shuttle running.

In the last decades, the energy cost assessment provided new insight on shuttle or constant running as training modalities. No study, though, quantified the benefit of constant/shuttle running in soccer-players and runners. Therefore, the aim of this study was to clarify if marathon runners and soccer players present specific energy cost values related to their training experience performing constant and shuttle running.

Sarcopenia parameters in active older adults - an eight-year longitudinal study.

Backgroud: Sarcopenia is a common skeletal muscle syndrome that is common in older adults but can be mitigated by adequate and regular physical activity. The development and severity of sarcopenia is favored by several factors, the most influential of which are a sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity. The aim of this observational longitudinal cohort study was to evaluate changes in sarcopenia parameters, based on the EWGSOP2 definition in a population of active older adults after eight years.

A century of exercise physiology: key concepts on coupling respiratory oxygen flow to muscle energy demand during exercise.

After a short historical account, and a discussion of Hill and Meyerhof's theory of the energetics of muscular exercise, we analyse steady-state rest and exercise as the condition wherein coupling of respiration to metabolism is most perfect. The quantitative relationships show that the homeostatic equilibrium, centred around arterial pH of 7.4 and arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure of 40 mmHg, is attained when the ratio of alveolar ventilation to carbon dioxide flow ([Formula: see text]) is - 21.

Mechanical work as a (key) determinant of energy cost in human locomotion: recent findings and future directions.

New Findings: What is the topic of this review? This narrative review explores past and recent findings on the mechanical determinants of energy cost during human locomotion, obtained by using a mechanical approach based on König's theorem (Fenn's approach). What advances does it highlight? Developments in analytical methods and their applications allow a better understanding of the mechanical-bioenergetic interaction. Recent advances include the determination of 'frictional' internal work; the association between tendon work and apparent efficiency; a better understanding of the role of energy recovery and internal work in pathological gait (amputees, stroke and obesity); and a comprehensive analysis of human locomotion in (simulated) low gravity conditions.

Running at altitude: the 100-m dash.

Purpose: Theoretical 100-m performance times (t) of a top athlete at Mexico-City (2250 m a.s.l.

Individual acceleration-speed profile in-situ: A proof of concept in professional football players.

Assessing football players' sprint mechanical outputs is key to the performance management process (e.g. talent identification, training, monitoring, return-to-sport).

The bouncing mechanism of running against hindering, or with aiding traction forces: a comparison with running on a slope.

Purpose: Much like running on a slope, running against/with a horizontal traction force which either hinders/aids the forward motion of the runner creates a shift in the positive and negative muscular work, which in turn modifies the bouncing mechanism of running. The purpose of the study is to (1) investigate the energy changes of the centre of mass and the storage/release of energy throughout the step during running associated with speed and increasing hindering and aiding traction forces; and (2) compare these changes to those observed when running on a slope.

Methods: Ground reaction forces were measured on eight subjects running on an instrumented treadmill against different traction forces at different speeds.

Comfortable walking speed and energy cost of locomotion in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Comfortable walking speed and energy cost of walking are physiological markers of metabolic activity during gait. People with multiple sclerosis are characterized by altered gait biomechanics and energetics, related to the degree of disability and spasticity, which lead to an increased energy cost of walking. Several studies concerning the energy cost of walking in multiple sclerosis have been published.

Metabolic Power in Team Sports - Part 2: Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy Yields.

A previous approach to estimate the time course of instantaneous metabolic power and O consumption in team sports has been updated to assess also energy expenditure against air resistance and to identify walking and running separately. Whole match energy expenditure turned out ≈14% smaller than previously obtained, the fraction against the air resistance amounting to ≈2% of the total. Estimated net O consumption and overall energy expenditure are fairly close to those measured by means of a portable metabolic cart; the average difference, after a 45 min exercise period of variable intensity and mode, amounting to ≈10%.

Metabolic Power in Team Sports - Part 1: An Update.

Team sports are characterised by frequent episodes of accelerated/decelerated running. The corresponding energy cost can be estimated on the basis of the biomechanical equivalence between accelerated/decelerated running on flat terrain and constant speed running uphill/downhill. This approach allows one to: (i) estimate the time course of the instantaneous metabolic power requirement of any given player and (ii) infer therefrom the overall energy expenditure of any given time window of a soccer drill or match.

Effects of 14 days of bed rest and following physical training on metabolic cost, mechanical work, and efficiency during walking in older and young healthy males.

In this study, we investigated: i) the effects of bed rest and a subsequent physical training program on metabolic cost (Cw), mechanical work and efficiency during walking in older and young men; ii) the mechanisms underlying the higher Cw observed in older than young men.Twenty-three healthy male subjects (N = 16 older adults, age 59.6±3.

Effects of recovery interval duration on the parameters of the critical power model for incremental exercise.

Introduction: We tested the linear critical power ([Formula: see text]) model for discrete incremental ramp exercise implying recovery intervals at the end of each step.

Methods: Seven subjects performed incremental (power increment 25 W) stepwise ramps to subject's exhaustion, with recovery intervals at the end of each step. Ramps' slopes (S) were 0.

Greater loss in muscle mass and function but smaller metabolic alterations in older compared with younger men following 2 wk of bed rest and recovery.

This investigation aimed to compare the response of young and older adult men to bed rest (BR) and subsequent rehabilitation (R). Sixteen older (OM, age 55-65 yr) and seven young (YM, age 18-30 yr) men were exposed to a 14-day period of BR followed by 14 days of R. Quadriceps muscle volume (QVOL), force (QF), and explosive power (QP) of leg extensors; single-fiber isometric force (Fo); peak aerobic power (V̇o2peak); gait stride length; and three metabolic parameters, Matsuda index of insulin sensitivity, postprandial lipid curve, and homocysteine plasma level, were measured before and after BR and after R.

A 35-day bed rest does not alter the bilateral deficit of the lower limbs during explosive efforts.

Purpose: Bilateral deficit (BLD) occurs when the force (or power) generated by both limbs together is smaller than the sum of the forces (or powers) developed separately by the two limbs. The amount of BLD can be altered by neural adaptations brought about by the repetitive execution of specific motor tasks (training). Prolonged disuse also leads to relevant neural adaptations; however, its effects on BLD are still unknown.

The energy cost of sprint running and the role of metabolic power in setting top performances.

Purpose: To estimate the energetics and biomechanics of accelerated/decelerated running on flat terrain based on its biomechanical similarity to constant speed running up/down an 'equivalent slope' dictated by the forward acceleration (a f).

Methods: Time course of a f allows one to estimate: (1) energy cost of sprint running (C sr), from the known energy cost of uphill/downhill running, and (2) instantaneous (specific) mechanical accelerating power (P sp = a f × speed).

Results: In medium-level sprinters (MLS), C sr and metabolic power requirement (P met = C sr × speed) at the onset of a 100-m dash attain ≈50 J kg(-1) m(-1), as compared to ≈4 for running at constant speed, and ≈90 W kg(-1).

Maximal explosive power of the lower limbs before and after 35 days of bed rest under different diet energy intake.

Purpose: Microgravity leads to a decline of muscle power especially in the postural muscles of the lower limb. Muscle atrophy primarily contributes to this negative adaptation. Nutritional countermeasures during unloading were shown to possibly mitigate the loss of muscle mass and strength.

Effects of the Etna uphill ultramarathon on energy cost and mechanics of running.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of an extreme uphill marathon on the mechanical parameters that are likely to affect the energy cost of running (Cr).

Methods: Eleven runners (27-59 y) participated in the Etna SuperMarathon (43 km, 0-3063 m above sea level). Anthropometric characteristics, maximal explosive power of the lower limb (Pmax), and maximal oxygen uptake were determined before the competition.

Force-velocity properties' contribution to bilateral deficit during ballistic push-off.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to quantify the contribution of the force-velocity (F-v) properties to bilateral force deficit (BLD) in ballistic lower limb push-off and to relate it to individual F-v mechanical properties of the lower limbs.

Methods: The F-v relation was individually assessed from mechanical measurements for 14 subjects during maximal ballistic lower limb push-offs; its contribution to BLD was then investigated using a theoretical macroscopic approach, considering both the mechanical constraints of movement dynamics and the maximal external capabilities of the lower limb neuromuscular system.

Results: During ballistic lower limb push-off, the maximum force each lower limb can produce was lower during bilateral than unilateral actions, thus leading to a BLD of 36.

Optimal starting block configuration in sprint running; a comparison of biological and prosthetic legs.

In the 2012 Paralympic 100 m and 200 m finals, 86% of athletes with a unilateral amputation placed their unaffected leg on the front starting block. Can this preference be explained biomechanically? We measured the biomechanical effects of starting block configuration for seven nonamputee sprinters and nine athletes with a unilateral amputation. Each subject performed six starts, alternating between their usual and unusual starting block configurations.

Factors affecting metabolic cost of transport during a multi-stage running race.

The aim of this study was to investigate: (1) the role of , the fraction of (F) and the metabolic cost of transport (CoT) in determining performance during an ultra-endurance competition and (2) the effects of the race on several biomechanical and morphological parameters of the lower limbs that are likely to affect CoT. Eleven runners (aged 29-54 years) participated in an ultra-endurance competition consisting of three running stages of 25, 55 and 13 km on three consecutive days. Anthropometric characteristics, body composition, morphological properties of the gastrocnemius medialis, maximal explosive power of the lower limb and were determined before the competition.