Adaptive Training in Recreational Runners to Improve Psychological Readiness, Joint Coordination, and Movement Variability

Running is a popular activity that is easily accessible and continues to increase in participants globally. Overuse injuries occur at a higher incidence during running than any other form of aerobic exercise. Several factors have been linked to increased risk for running-related injury such as age, sex, lower limb length differences, increased knee varus, number of runs per week, running long distances, movement variability, and joint coordination. In recent years, movement variability has been shown to help individuals adapt to various movement environments and tasks. Intra-subject movement variability is associated with injury risk. Given the high injury rates in runners, it is necessary to identify training interventions to improve movement variability and joint coordination. Adaptive training has been used to train multiplanar and non-linear movements in various communities. There is no current information on how this training protocol alters joint coordination and movement variability. This study seeks to collect pilot data to examine an adaptive training intervention’s effect on joint coordination, movement variability, and psychological readiness during lunging, walking, and running tasks in recreational runners.