Today we have a guest blogger, my doctoral student, Jeffrey Simpson. Jeff is a second year student in our department working towards his PhD in biomechanics, and he is a big fan of race walking. Check out his thoughts below, and check you can check out Jeff's race walking form by clicking on this link.
This
morning while I was eating breakfast and drinking my daily cup (or two) of
coffee, I received a text message from Dr. Knight telling me that Olympic race
walking was on NBC Sports. Since I arrived at Mississippi State in the Fall
2015 to work on my PhD in biomechanics under Dr. Knight, my lab mate and
colleague, Brandon Miller (other PhD student in biomechanics), and I are always
talking about race walking and discussing how competitive the sport has become.
If you’ve never heard of race walking, I promise that you’re missing out.
In
the 2016 Rio Olympics there are both men’s and women’s 20 and 50 km races.
Believe it or not, these race walking athletes are able to “walk” 20/50 km
faster than the majority individuals can run a 20/50 km. So how do we classify
someone who is walking or running? The two main phases during the gait cycle we
examine are the stance phase (when the foot is in contact with the ground) and
the swing phase (when the leg moves forward). The phase we focus on when determining
if someone is walking is the stance phase, which has two periods. The double
limb stance period (when both feet are in contact with the ground) and the
single limb stance period (only one foot in contact with the ground). However,
if neither feet are in contact with the ground at any given moment this would
be considered the flight phase (period of no support), which indicates running.
This is how the IAAF enforces the rules and regulations of race walking, which
states that the athlete must have no visible loss of contact with the ground
(one foot must always be in contact with the ground) and the knee must be
extended from the moment of initial contact (when the foot strikes the ground)
until the athlete reaches the upright position. Throughout the race (20 or 50 km),
officials constantly monitor athletes and issue red cards if the previously
mentioned rules are broken. If an athlete receives 3 red cards, they are then
disqualified from the race.
From
a biomechanics perspective, we are able to analyze the gait kinematics and
determine the individuals walking speed. As with running, the two main factors
that determine speed are stride length and stride frequency (also referred to
as cadence). In order for a race walker to optimize their stride
length/frequency, they must exaggerate their gait by excessive pelvic rotations
(shifting their hips left and right) and shoulder movements to oppose the pelvic
rotations. Additionally, athletes will decrease the time their foot is in
contact with the ground (ground contact time).
They also position their support leg close to their midline so that
their center of mass passes directly over the support foot in order to maintain
walking speed by decreasing breaking forces, which helps maintain movement
efficiency. Although we might view this event as a joke, or even think it is
funny, it is quite amazing what these athletes are able to accomplish. Race
walking is actually a difficult task, if you try to “race walk” you’ll quickly
find out that it’s hard to maximize your stride length/frequency without
running. Provided in the link is a YouTube video of elite race walkers from the
2012 Olympic Games in London. Watch how quickly they are able to move while
still being able to maintain walking gait.
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