A common gait retraining goal for runners is reducing vertical ground reaction force (GRF) loading rates (LRs), which have been associated with injury. Many gait retraining programs prioritize an internal focus of attention, despite evidence supporting an external focus of attention when a specific outcome is desired (e.g., LR reduction). Does an external focus of attention (using cues for quiet, soft landings) result in comparable reductions in LRs to those achieved using a common internal focus (forefoot striking while barefoot)? This observational study included 37 injured runners (18 male; mean age 36 (14) years) at the OMITTED Running Center. Runners wore inertial measurement units over the distal-medial tibia while running on an instrumented treadmill at a self-selected speed. Data were collected for three conditions: 1) Shod-Control (wearing shoes, without cues); 2) Shod-Quiet (wearing shoes, cues for quiet, soft landings); and 3) Barefoot-FFS (barefoot, cues for forefoot strike (FFS)). Within-subject variables were compared across conditions: vertical instantaneous loading rate (LR, primary outcome); vertical stiffness during initial loading; peak vertical GRF; peak vertical tibial acceleration (TA); and cadence. Vertical LR, stiffness, and TA were lower in the Shod-Quiet compared to Shod-Control 0.001). Peak vertical GRF and cadence were not different between Shod-Quiet and Shod-Control. Reductions in stiffness and LR were similar between Shod-Quiet and Barefoot-FFS, and GRF in Barefoot-FFS remained similar to both shod conditions. However, runners demonstrated additional reductions in TA and increased cadence when transitioning from Shod-Quiet to the Barefoot-FFS condition ( 0.05). These results suggests that a focus on quiet, soft landings may be an effective gait retraining method for future research.

中文翻译：

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轻柔、安静地着陆的提示会导致跑步者地面反作用力负载率急剧降低

跑步者常见的步态再训练目标是降低垂直地面反作用力 (GRF) 负荷率 (LR)，该负荷率与受伤有关。许多步态再训练计划优先考虑内部注意力焦点，尽管有证据支持在需要特定结果（例如，LR 减少）时关注外部注意力焦点。外部注意力焦点（使用安静、软着陆的提示）是否会导致 LR 的降低与使用常见内部焦点（赤脚时前脚掌着地）所实现的类似？这项观察性研究纳入了 OMITTED 跑步中心的 37 名受伤跑步者（18 名男性；平均年龄 36 (14) 岁）。跑步者在胫骨远端内侧佩戴惯性测量装置，同时以自行选择的速度在仪表跑步机上跑步。在三种情况下收集数据：1）Shod-Control（穿鞋，没有提示）；2) Shod-Quiet（穿鞋，提示安静、软着陆）；3) Barefoot-FFS（赤脚，前脚着地提示（FFS））。不同条件下的受试者内变量进行比较：垂直瞬时负荷率（LR，主要结果）；初始加载期间的垂直刚度；峰值垂直 GRF；峰值垂直胫骨加速度（TA）；和节奏。与 Shod-Control 0.001 相比，Shod-Quiet 中的垂直 LR、刚度和 TA 较低。Shod-Quiet 和 Shod-Control 之间的峰值垂直 GRF 和踏频没有差异。Shod-Quiet 和 Barefoot-FFS 之间的刚度和 LR 降低程度相似，而 Barefoot-FFS 中的 GRF 与两种鞋的条件保持相似。然而，当从 Shod-Quiet 状态过渡到 Barefoot-FFS 状态时（0.05），跑步者的 TA 进一步减少，步频增加。这些结果表明，关注安静、软着陆可能是未来研究的有效步态再训练方法。