Is There A Relationship Between Hip Structure, Hip Muscle Strength, and Lower Extremity Frontal Plane Kinematics During Treadmill Running?

• Main Author: Baggaley, Michael William Robinson
• Format: Others
• Published: UKnowledge 2014
• Subjects: Biomechanics; Strength; Structure; Hip; Running; Sports Sciences
• Online Access: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/khp_etds/18; http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=khp_etds

INTRODUCTION: Excessive hip adduction (HADD) has been associated with a number of lower extremity overuse injuries, and it has been suggested that it may be the result of reduced strength of the hip abduction musculature. Hip structure has been postulated to influence both hip abduction (HABD) strength and HADD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between hip structure, HABD strength, and frontal plane kinematics during running. METHODS: Peak isometric HABD strength, lower extremity kinematics, femoral neck-shaft angle (NSA), and pelvis width-femur length (pw-fl) ratio were recorded for 25 female subjects. Pearson correlations (P < .05) were performed between variables. RESULTS: A fair relationship was observed between femoral NSA and HABD strength (r = -.472 P = .017) where an increased NSA was associated with reduced HABD strength. No relationship was observed between HABD strength and frontal plane kinematics or between NSA/pw-fl and frontal plane kinematics. CONCLUSION: Alterations in the femoral NSA have the ability to influence peak isometric hip abduction strength. However, alterations in strength did not result in changes in lower extremity kinematics. Structural deviations at the hip do not appear to influence hip kinematics during running.