Perspectives Summer/Fall 2016

COLLEGE OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCES • 23 Annually, more than 50 million people go for a run at some time in the United States. While running produces numerous health and wellness benefits, musculoskeletal injury rates are high. Runners commonly acquire patellofemoral pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and Achilles tendinopathy. Research shows excessive motion at the hip, pelvis, and knee during initial contact with the ground when running is associated with these injuries. Sport scientists and therapists try to retrain running gait using real-time feedback (sensors and mirrors) and stride manipula- tion; however, outcomes are mixed. Monique Mokha, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS, associate professor and program director in the Department of Health and Human Performance; Peter Sprague, D.P.T., PT, OCS, associate professor in the Depart- ment of Physical Therapy; and Dustin Gatens, M.S., ATC, an NSU athletic trainer in the Department of Athletics, suggest that the most effective intervention might be one focused on improving underlying multijoint movement patterns. Functional movement patterns (FMPs) are founda- tional movements, such as stepping, lunging, and squatting, which elicit simultaneous demands of strength, reflex stabilization, mobility, and motor control. The group has been using the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) to assess and monitor FMPs in NSU’s student-athletes, but hadn’t tested carryover to activity-specific movements such as running. As a result, Mokha, Sprague, and Gatens recruited healthy runners from NSU and surrounding communities. Those with poor FMS scores were three-dimensionally assessed using a 10-camera system in the exercise and sport science laboratory. The assessment was done before and after a six-week corrective exercise program aimed at only improving FMS scores. To date, the trio has not only significantly improved FMS scores in 12 runners, but also reduced excessive hip (internal rotation) and knee (valgus) motion during initial foot contact. It appears that correcting FMPs has a carryover effect to more activity-specific movements, such as running, showing promise to retrain gait. In July, Mokha, Sprague, and Gatens presented their preliminary results at the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports 34th International Confer- ence in Tokyo, Japan. The next phase of their research will involve using the same method in runners with knee pathology. n A Novel Method of Gait Retraining in Runners Right: Monique Mokha, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS, screens a runner’s functional movement pattern using the FMS tool. Below: A runner shows improvements in hip and pelvis mechanics after six weeks of corrective exercise.