Abstract
We hypothesized that, as occurring in cars, body structural asymmetries could generate asymmetry in the kinematics/dynamics of locomotion, ending up in a higher metabolic cost of transport, i.e. more ‘fuel’ needed to travel a given distance. Previous studies found the asymmetries in horses’ body negatively correlated with galloping performance. In this investigation, we analyzed anatomical differences between the left and right lower limbs as a whole by performing 3D cross-correlation of Magnetic Resonance Images of 19 male runners, clustered as Untrained Runners, Occasional Runners and Skilled Runners. Running kinematics of their body centre of mass were obtained from the body segments coordinates measured by a 3D motion capture system at incremental running velocities on a treadmill. A recent mathematical procedure quantified the asymmetry of the body centre of mass trajectory between the left and right steps. During the same sessions, runners’ metabolic consumption was measured and the cost of transport was calculated. No correlations were found between anatomical/kinematic variables and the metabolic cost of transport, regardless of the training experience. However, anatomical symmetry significant correlated to the kinematic symmetry, and the most trained subjects showed the highest level of kinematic symmetry during running. Results suggest that despite the significant effects of anatomical asymmetry on kinematics, either those changes are too small to affect economy or some plastic compensation in the locomotor system mitigates the hypothesized change in energy expenditure of running.
Citation: Seminati E, Nardello F, Zamparo P, Ardigò LP, Faccioli N, Minetti AE (2013) Anatomically Asymmetrical Runners Move More Asymmetrically at the Same Metabolic Cost. PLoS ONE 8(9):
e74134.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0074134
Editor: David Carrier, University of Utah, United States of America
Received: March 20, 2013; Accepted: July 27, 2013; Published: September 24, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Seminati et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: The project was supported by the Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation -Human Physiology section- University of Milan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Description
This study analyzes anatomical differences in runners' lower limbs and their impact on running efficiency.