Inertial Measurement Units

With the spring running season soon to get underway, many recreational athletes ramp up their training volume. However, it should be noted that the majority of running-related injuries (RRIs) are due to a sudden increase in training loads (Bertelsen et al., 2017; Napier et al., 2021). In addition, RRIs are typically the result of multiple associated factors in terms of anthropometrics and malalignments in combination with previous injury history and exposure to increased training loads. An injury is sustained when the interaction of predisposing factors, positive injury history and a reached threshold in training load becomes significant to cause an injury (Benca et al., 2020).

 In a recent post, inertial measurement units (IMUs) were discussed regarding the value that their data capture may offer the runner and the coach. Although laboratory settings with motion capture systems and force plates are informative, longitudinal data captured regularly via IMUs may very likely elucidate far more about the typical biomechanical patterns in the runner’s natural setting than a single session gait analysis performed on a treadmill. Further to that, many runners may only seek out an analysis when injured, which is not ideal in terms of reflecting their normal gait. The gait of an in injured runner may indeed appear abnormal, however having a baseline comparison or visible trends over the course of a training cycle may inform as to the degree of aberrance, and importantly from the latter, offer the potential of averting an injury altogether.