Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Exp Gerontol. 2021 May;147:111275. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2021.111275. Epub 2021 Feb 5.
Older adults often walk with smaller ankle joint kinetics and larger hip joint kinetics compared to young adults. These age-related differences have been attributed, in part, to weaker plantarflexor muscles. While it is thought that regular physical activity helps to maintain muscle strength and mobility in older adults, physical activity levels on average decline with age. Therefore, understanding the effect of physical activity level on gait kinetics is an important objective for the management of mobility impairment in older adults. The purpose of this study was determine the effect of habitual endurance running on lower-extremity joint kinetics. 12 male older long-term runners (67 ± 5 yrs., 1.79 ± 0.07 m, 77.3 ± 13.7 kg) and 12 male older non-runners (70 ± 3 yrs., 1.78 ± 0.06 m, 79.68 ± 10.6 kg), performed overground walking trials at 1.3 m/s while kinematic and kinetic data were collected. Participants also performed maximal voluntary contractions at the hip, knee, and ankle joints on an isokinetic dynamometer. Older runners displayed similar ankle plantarflexor strength, similar hip extensor strength, and greater knee extensor strength compared to older non-runners, and walked with similar ankle joint kinetics (p > 0.05), and larger hip joint kinetics compared to older non-runners (p < 0.05). Thus, physical activity, in the form of running at least 20 miles/wk. and training for at least one race per year, did not mitigate the characteristic age-related differences in gait kinetics. Our findings may indicate that age-related differences in lower-extremity gait kinetics are a normal consequence of natural aging.
老年人的踝关节动力学通常比年轻人小，髋关节动力学通常比年轻人大。这些与年龄相关的差异部分归因于足底屈肌较弱。虽然人们认为有规律的体育活动有助于维持老年人的肌肉力量和运动能力，但随着年龄的增长，体育活动水平普遍下降。因此，了解体育活动水平对步态动力学的影响是管理老年人运动障碍的一个重要目标。本研究的目的是确定习惯性耐力跑步对下肢关节动力学的影响。12 名男性老年长期跑步者（67±5 岁，1.79±0.07m，77.3±13.7kg）和 12 名男性老年非跑步者（70±3 岁，1.78±0.06m，79.68±10.6kg）以 1.3m/s 的速度在地面上行走，同时收集运动学和动力学数据。参与者还在等速测力计上进行了髋关节、膝关节和踝关节的最大自主收缩。与老年非跑步者相比，老年跑步者的踝关节跖屈肌力量相似，髋关节伸肌力量相似，膝关节伸肌力量更大，且踝关节动力学相似（p>0.05），髋关节动力学更大（p<0.05）。因此，以每周至少跑 20 英里和每年至少参加一次比赛的形式进行的体育活动并没有减轻与年龄相关的步态动力学差异。我们的研究结果可能表明，下肢步态动力学的年龄相关差异是自然衰老的正常结果。
