Woiczinski Matthias, Lehner Carolin, Esser Thekla, Kistler Manuel, Azqueta Monica, Leukert Johannes, Bauer Leandra, Kraft Eduard
Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery, Musculoskeletal University Center Munich (MUM), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Chair of Epidemiology, Department of Sport and Health Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
Front Neurol. 2022 Mar 2;13:830762. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.830762. eCollection 2022.
With increasing age, gait changes often occur, leading to mobility problems and thus a higher risk of falling. Interest in training at home or at retirement homes has led to the development of "mobile treadmills." A difference in treadmill surface length may influence walking parameters (i.e., step length) and therefore may affect muscle activation. This led to the question: Does the treadmill size affect the muscle activation, i.e., with the length of the walking surface. The study aimed to investigate the influence of treadmill size, i.e., length of the walking surface, on gait pattern and to determine differences in the amplitude of muscle activation using a participant-specific musculoskeletal model (AnyBody Technology A/S, Aalborg, Denmark). For a prospective, randomized study gait parameters were collected from 47 healthy participants (aged 50.19 ± 20.58 years) while walking on two different treadmills, a small mobile treadmill (walking surface length 100 cm) and a conventional treadmill (walking surface length 150 cm), at their preferred speed, 2 km/h, and 4 km/h. Muscle activation amplitude patterns were similar between treadmills (M. gastrocnemius medialis: r = 0.94, M. gastrocnemius lateralis: r = 0.92, M. gluteus medius r = 0.90, M. gluteus minimus r = 0.94). However, the gait analysis showed a decreased preferred velocity ( < 0.001, = 4.54), reduced stride length (preferred velocity: = 0.03, = -2.17; 2 km/h: = 0.36, = 2.10; 4 km/h: = 0.006, = 2.76), shorter stride time (2 km/h: < 0.001, = 4.65; 4 km/h: < 0.001, = 4.15), and higher cadence (2 km/h: < 0.001, = -4.20; 4 km/h: p = 0.029, = -2.18) on the mobile treadmill than on the conventional treadmill. Our observations suggest that the treadmill design (e.g., a 50 cm difference in walking surface length) may not influence muscle activity amplitude during walking. However, the design of the treadmill may influence gait characteristics (e.g., stride length, cadence) of walking.
随着年龄的增长，步态常常会发生变化，导致行动不便，从而增加跌倒风险。对在家中或养老院进行训练的兴趣促使了“移动跑步机”的开发。跑步机表面长度的差异可能会影响行走参数（即步长），进而可能影响肌肉激活。这就引出了一个问题：跑步机的尺寸，即行走表面的长度，是否会影响肌肉激活？本研究旨在探讨跑步机尺寸，即行走表面的长度，对步态模式的影响，并使用针对个体的肌肉骨骼模型（丹麦奥尔堡的AnyBody Technology A/S公司）确定肌肉激活幅度的差异。在一项前瞻性随机研究中，从47名健康参与者（年龄50.19±20.58岁）中收集步态参数，他们以各自偏好的速度2公里/小时和4公里/小时在两种不同的跑步机上行走，一种是小型移动跑步机（行走表面长度100厘米），另一种是传统跑步机（行走表面长度150厘米）。两台跑步机之间的肌肉激活幅度模式相似（内侧腓肠肌：r = 0.94，外侧腓肠肌：r = 0.92，臀中肌r = 0.90，臀小肌r = 0.94）。然而，步态分析显示，与传统跑步机相比，移动跑步机上的偏好速度降低（<0.001，= 4.54），步幅减小（偏好速度：= 0.03，= -2.17；2公里/小时：= 0.36，= 2.10；4公里/小时：= 0.006，= 2.76），步幅时间缩短（2公里/小时：<0.001，= 4.65；4公里/小时：<0.001，= 4.15），步频更高（2公里/小时：<0.001，= -4.20；4公里/小时：p = 0.029，= -2.18）。我们的观察结果表明，跑步机设计（例如行走表面长度相差50厘米）可能不会影响行走过程中的肌肉活动幅度。然而，跑步机的设计可能会影响行走的步态特征（例如步幅、步频）。
