TY  - JOUR
A1  - Jafarnezhadgero, Amir Ali
A1  - Piran Hamlabadi, Milad
A1  - Sajedi, Heidar
A1  - Granacher, Urs
T1  - Recreational runners who recovered from COVID-19 show different running kinetics and muscle activities compared with healthy controls
T2  - Gait & posture : official journal of Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society, European Society of Movement Analysis in Adults and Children, Società Italiana di Analisi del Movimento in Clinica, International Society for Posture and Gait Research
N2  - Background:
Social isolation through quarantine represents an effective means to prevent COVID-19 infection. A negative side-effect of quarantine is low physical activity. 

Research question: 
What are the differences of running kinetics and muscle activities of recreational runners with a history of COVID-19 versus healthy controls? 

Methods:
Forty men and women aged 20-30 years participated in this study and were divided into two experimental groups. Group 1 (age: 24.1 +/- 2.9) consisted of participants with a history of COVID-19 (COVID group) and group 2 (age: 24.2 +/- 2.7) of healthy age and sex-matched controls (controls). Both groups were tested for their running kinetics using a force plate and electromyographic activities (i.e., tibialis anterior [TA], gastrocnemius medialis [Gas-M], biceps femoris [BF], semitendinosus [ST], vastus lateralis [VL], vastus medialis [VM], rectus femoris [RF], gluteus medius [Glut-M]). 

Results:
Results demonstrated higher peak vertical (p = 0.029; d=0.788) and medial (p = 0.004; d=1.119) ground reaction forces (GRFs) during push-off in COVID individuals compared with controls. Moreover, higher peak lateral GRFs were found during heel contact (p = 0.001; d=1.536) in the COVID group. COVID-19 individuals showed a shorter time-to-reach the peak vertical (p = 0.001; d=3.779) and posterior GRFs (p = 0.005; d=1.099) during heel contact. Moreover, the COVID group showed higher Gas-M (p = 0.007; d=1.109) and lower VM activity (p = 0.026; d=0.811) at heel contact.

Significance:
Different running kinetics and muscle activities were found in COVID-19 individuals versus healthy controls. Therefore, practitioners and therapists are advised to implement balance and/or strength training to improve lower limbs alignment and mediolateral control during dynamic movements in runners who recovered from COVID-19.
KW  - Quarantine
KW  - Ground reaction force
KW  - Electromyography
Y1  - 2021
UR  - https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/61807
SN  - 0966-6362
SN  - 1879-2219
VL  - 91
SP  - 260
EP  - 265
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam [u.a.]
ER  -