Analysis of Movement Variability in Cycling: An Exploratory Study

The purpose of this study was to determine the test-retest repeatability of Blue Trident inertial measurement units (IMUs) and VICON Nexus kinematic modelling in analysing the Lyapunov Exponent (LyE) during a maximal effort 4000 m cycling bout in different body segments/joints. An additional aim was to determine if changes in the LyE existed across a trial. Twelve novice cyclists completed four sessions of cycling; one was a familiarisation session to determine a bike fit and become better accustomed to the time trial position and pacing of a 4000 m effort. IMUs were attached to the head, thorax, pelvis and left and right shanks to analyse segment accelerations, respectively, and reflective markers were attached to the participant to analyse neck, thorax, pelvis, hip, knee and ankle segment/joint angular kinematics, respectively. Both the IMU and VICON Nexus test-retest repeatability ranged from poor to excellent at the different sites. In each session, the head and thorax IMU acceleration LyE increased across the bout, whilst pelvic and shank acceleration remained consistent. Differences across sessions were evident in VICON Nexus segment/joint angular kinematics, but no consistent trend existed. The improved reliability and the ability to identify a consistent trend in performance, combined with their improved portability and reduced cost, advocate for the use of IMUs in analysing movement variability in cycling. However, additional research is required to determine the applicability of analysing movement variability during cycling.