Limb force and non-sagittal plane joint moments during maximum-effort curve sprint running in humans

Compared with running straight, when human runners sprint along a curve, the ability of the inside leg to generate force is compromised. This decreased force generation has been suggested to limit the overall performance of the runner. One theory for this force loss is that the large non-sagittal plane joint moments of the inside leg reach their operating limits, thus prohibiting further generation of the performance-related sagittal plane joint moments. We investigated the inside leg force generation and the ankle and knee joint moments when 13 subjects sprinted with and without an additional mass of 12.4 kg along a curve of 2.5 m radius. The increase in the subjects' mass evoked a significant increase in the resultant ground reaction force. The peak non-sagittal plane moments increased significantly for both the ankle and knee joints. This observation suggests that when sprinting normally with maximum effort, the non-sagittal plane joint moments are not operating at their limits. The large increases in ground reaction force were associated with greater extension moments generated at the knee joint. In contrast, the peak ankle plantarflexion moment remained unchanged across conditions. It is possible that for the specific joint configuration experienced, the overall ability to generate plantarflexion moment reaches the limit. Future studies with interventions increasing the ability of the muscle-tendon units to generate plantarflexion moment may provide an experimental opportunity to further examine this speculation.