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Lookup NU author(s): Dr João GrecaORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Elsevier, 2019.
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Physical activity in children is important as it leads to healthy growth due to physiological benefits. However, a physiological benefit can be partially negated by excessive or unphysiological loads within the joints. To gain an initial understanding into this, the present study sought to compare joint loading between walking and cycling in children. With institutional ethical approval, 14 pre-pubertal children aged 8–12 walked on an instrumented treadmill and cycled on a stationary ergometer. Two methods were used to match physiological load. Cardiovascular loads between walking and cycling were matched using heart rate. Metabolic load was normalised by matching estimates of oxygen consumption. Joint reaction forces during cycling and walking as well as joint moments were derived using inverse dynamics. Peak compressive forces were greater on the knees and ankles during walking than during cycling. Peak shear peak forces at the knee and ankle were also significantly larger during walking than during cycling, independent of how physiological load was normalised. For both cycling conditions, ankle moments were significantly smaller during cycling than walking. No differences were found for knee moments. At equivalent physiological intensities, cycling results in less joint loading than walking. It can be speculated that for certain populations and under certain conditions cycling might be a more suitable mode of exercise than weight bearing activities to achieve a given metabolic load.
Author(s): Greca JP, Ryan J, Baltzopoulos V, Korff T
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Biomechanics
Year: 2019
Volume: 87
Pages: 13-18
Online publication date: 12/02/2019
Acceptance date: 30/01/2019
Date deposited: 18/08/2021
ISSN (print): 0021-9290
ISSN (electronic): 1873-2380
Publisher: Elsevier
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.051
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2019.01.051
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