Encarnación-Martínez Alberto, Lucas-Cuevas Ángel Gabriel, Pérez-Soriano Pedro, Menayo Ruperto, Gea-García Gemma María
Department of Sport and Physical Education, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
Department of Physical Education and Sport, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
J Hum Kinet. 2017 Jun 22;57:221-231. doi: 10.1515/hukin-2017-0063. eCollection 2017 Jun.
High plantar pressure has been associated with increased risk of injury. The characteristics of each physical activity determine the load on the lower limbs. The influence of Nordic Walking (NW) technique on plantar pressure is still unknown. The aim of this study was to analyze the differences between plantar pressure during NW with the Diagonal technique (DT) versus Alpha technique (AT) and compare them with the pressure obtained during normal walking (W). The normality and sphericity of the plantar pressure data were checked before performing a two-way repeated measures ANOVA in order to find differences between speeds (preferred, fast) and the gait (NW, W) as within-subject factors. Then, a t-test for independent measures was used to identify the specific differences between NW techniques. The strength of the differences was calculated by means of the effect size (ES). The results demonstrated that during NW with AT at preferred speed the pressure was lower under the Calcaneus, Lateral Metatarsal and Toes compared to the DT group ( = 0.046, ES = 1.49; = 0.015, ES = 1.44; = 0.040, ES = 1.20, respectively). No differences were found at the fast speed ( > 0.05). Besides the increase in walking speed during NW ( < 0.01), both technique groups showed lower pressure during NW compared to W under the Hallux and Central Metatarsal heads (F = 58.321, = 0.000, ES = 2.449; F = 41.917, = 0.012, ES = 1.365, respectively). As a practical conclusion, the AT technique may be the most effective of the NW techniques at reducing plantar pressure while allowing NW practitioners to achieve the physiological benefits of NW.
足底压力过高与受伤风险增加有关。每项体育活动的特点决定了下肢的负荷。北欧健走（NW）技术对足底压力的影响尚不清楚。本研究的目的是分析采用对角技术（DT）与阿尔法技术（AT）进行北欧健走时足底压力的差异，并将其与正常行走（W）时获得的压力进行比较。在进行双向重复测量方差分析之前，先检查足底压力数据的正态性和球形性，以便找出速度（偏好速度、快速）和步态（北欧健走、正常行走）作为受试者内因素之间的差异。然后，使用独立样本t检验来确定北欧健走技术之间的具体差异。通过效应量（ES）计算差异的强度。结果表明，在偏好速度下采用AT进行北欧健走时，与DT组相比，跟骨、外侧跖骨和脚趾下方的压力较低（分别为P = 0.046，ES = 1.49；P = 0.015，ES = 1.44；P = 0.040, ES = 1.20）。在快速行走时未发现差异（P > 0.05）。除了北欧健走时步行速度增加外（P < 0.01），与正常行走相比，两个技术组在北欧健走时拇趾和中跖骨头下方的压力均较低（分别为F = 58.321，P = 0.000，ES = 2.449；F = 41.917，P = 0.012，ES = 1.365）。作为一个实际结论，AT技术可能是北欧健走技术中在降低足底压力方面最有效的，同时能让北欧健走者获得北欧健走的生理益处。
