The instrumented treadmill is capable of measuring vertical ground-reaction forces (GRFs) during running and seems to be a usable tool for simulating overground running kinetics. The results of this study demonstrated that the instrumented treadmill is a highly valid tool for the assessment of the vertical GRF parameters: tFz1, tFz2, CT and Fz2 and moderately valid for the assessment of Fz1, LR and ALR for runners who showed a consistent landing strategy during overground and treadmill running. A qualitative evaluation of the overground and treadmill vertical GRF curves as shown in Figure 3, demonstrated that the vertical GRFs for both the heelstrike (HS) runners and the non-heelstrike (NHS) runners were similar during overground and treadmill running. The excellent intraclass correlations and low limits of agreement for contact time (CT), time to impact peak force (tFz1) and time to the active peak (tFz2) reflect this qualitative similarity. After all, these parameters show that the timing of peak values in the vertical GRF curve is not different for overground and treadmill running. The qualitative similarity of these GRF curves was also observed in other studies [1, 3]. In the current study, the overground and treadmill measured active peak (Fz2) showed no noteworthy differences. This is in accordance with the results of Riley et al., who also compared overground and treadmill running kinetics in a group of 20 runners [3]. Overground and treadmill measured impact peaks (Fz1), maximal loading rates (LR) and average loading rates (ALR), showed less consistent results with modest to excellent intraclass correlations and wider limits of agreement. To our knowledge this study is the first to compare overground and treadmill measured impact peaks and loading rates during running, therefore it is not possible to evaluate these results with previous studies.
For an overground-treadmill comparison with respect to vertical GRF parameters, a consistent landing strategy during both running conditions (overground and treadmill) is required. While most runners showed a consistent landing strategy during overground and treadmill running, some runners switched to another landing strategy. During slow and preferred running speed, these inconsistent runners mostly switched from an overground HS landing to a NHS landing during treadmill running. Considering that this behavior is in line with the more flattened landing style as observed in a previous study [14], it is likely that these inconsistencies in landing strategy are the result of accommodation to treadmill running. At fast self selected speed, however, the inconsistent runners switched from a NHS to a HS landing during treadmill running. These differences in landing strategy may indicate overground and treadmill differences in anterior-posterior GRFs which were not compared in the current study. The results of this study demonstrated that the inconsistencies in landing strategy are smallest during running at preferred speed. Therefore, to maximize certainty, it can be recommended to determine landing strategy with a treadmill measurement at preferred running speed.
The use of a treadmill in a research setting has been subject of much debate. Several factors are mentioned which may cause biomechanical differences between overground and treadmill running [9]. First, non-mechanical factors as accommodation to the changed visual and auditory surroundings or fear during treadmill running may result in differences between overground and treadmill running biomechanics [15]. Second, differences in air resistance may have an effect on treadmill running form [16]. The effects of air resistance on running kinematics, however, will only be visible during running at high speeds [17]. Third, intra-stride belt speed variations, due to an energy exchange between the treadmill and the runner, can cause differences in running kinematics compared to overground running. In particular low powered treadmills are more sensitive for opposite forces acting on the belt during running, resulting in larger belt speed variations. These variations in belt speed may lead to biomechanical differences during treadmill running when compared to overground running [15]. Fourth, during running, leg stiffness is adjusted to the stiffness of the running surface [18]. Adjusting leg stiffness results in subtle changes in the kinematics of the lower extremity [19]. Therefore, differences in running surface may lead to biomechanical differences when comparing overground and treadmill running.
Several studies compared overground and treadmill running biomechanics [3, 8, 14]. Even though runners tend to run with a shortened stride length and an increased stride rate during treadmill running [3, 8, 9], overground and treadmill running kinematics are remarkably similar [3, 9, 14]. Only small differences in knee and ankle joint kinematics were reported. Nigg et al. observed a more flattened landing style during treadmill running [14]. Riley et al. did not find differences in ankle joint kinematics, but did find differences in minimal and maximal knee flexion [3]. Maximal knee flexion was lower and minimal flexion was higher during treadmill running, which could be a result of the observed decrease in flight phase and higher stride rate [3]. Thus, despite the theoretical factors which may influence treadmill running biomechanics, only small differences in overground and treadmill kinematics were observed. In the current study, also no significant differences in GRF parameters between overground and treadmill running were found. These findings are in line with previous studies where overground and treadmill running kinetics were compared [1, 3]. The between person variance in Fz1, LR and ALR during both overground and treadmill running was high, as indicated by the high standard deviations for these parameters. Stride-to-stride variance for these parameters was also high, which demonstrates the importance of measuring sufficient steps for representative GRF values. This is especially important for detecting small differences between different conditions or persons [20]. Because a treadmill makes it possible to measure multiple steps during one test trial, it can be argued that a treadmill measurement is more suitable for detecting small differences in vertical GRFs during running. However, this assumption was not assessed in the current study.
Since the treadmill used in the current study only is capable of measuring vertical GRFs it cannot be used to assess joint kinetics using the standard inverse dynamics methodology, because anterior-posterior and medio-lateral GRFs are also needed for these calculations. It should also be noted that the inconsistencies in landing strategy may indicate differences in anterior-posterior GRFs between overground and treadmill running. Furthermore, this instrumented treadmill would have limited usefulness for walking studies, because the double support phase in walking cannot be measured directly. For measuring GRFs during walking, an instrumented split-belt treadmill may be more convenient.
A limitation of this study was that participants first performed the overground measurements after which the treadmill measurements started. Due to this fixed order of the measurements, fatigue may have influenced the later treadmill measurements [21]. Nevertheless, this influence is expected to be low, since all participants were experienced runners who did not have to deliver a maximal performance and participants did not show signs of exaggerated fatigue during the measurements.