Examining the Most Effective Method to Reduce Running Ground Contact Time

NCT ID: NCT06988709

Last Updated: 2025-12-12

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

30 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-05-01

Study Completion Date

2026-12-01

Brief Summary

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The purpose of our study is to establish the most effective running retraining technique to decrease ground contact time. This will be investigated by applying three running retraining conditions and assessing the change in ground contact time and other biomechanical variables between the runner's baseline running and each retraining technique.

Detailed Description

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The purpose of our study is to establish the most effective running retraining technique to decrease ground contact time utilizing three common running retraining methods in healthy runners.

The first aim will be to apply three running retraining conditions and assess the change in ground contact time and other spatiotemporal and biomechanical variables between the runner's baseline running and each retraining condition.

The three running conditions will be at the participant's self-selected speed corresponding to "a comfortable run for 30 minutes". The conditions will be, condition 1: a verbal cue to "pull your foot off the ground as quickly as you can," condition 2: a metronome set to 10% above their preferred cadence found during the baseline run, and condition 3: visual feedback to reduce their ground contact time through observing that number in real time provided by a commercial IMU. The participant will attempt to lower that to 5% below their baseline run ground contact time by being given that target number on a sheet of paper.

The second aim will be to examine the effect of the 3 running conditions on the runner's level of exertion and difficulty using the Omni Rate of Perceived Exertional Scale, the Rate of Perceived Difficulty, and ranking the techniques from 1 to 3 on which they felt was most natural.

We hypothesize that each method will reduce ground contact time, but condition 3 providing continuous visual feedback will result in the most consistent decrease to ground contact time across the runners and will be perceived as the easiest to perform.

Overall, this study will provide clinicians with a running retraining intervention that has been objectively shown to decrease ground contact time and provide researchers with a method to further investigate its effect on running injuries.

Conditions

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Healthy Runners

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Within-subjects, repeated measures design completed in a single session
Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Run Retraining Conditions

Single-arm, within subject, repeated measures design. All participants will run at baseline and then under 3 different running conditions.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Real-time Visual Feedback

Intervention Type OTHER

Runners will visualize their real-time ground contact time (GCT) measured by the RunScribe on a TV screen. They will be instructed to run with a goal of matching their target GCT. Their target GCT will be 5% less than their baseline.

Real-time Auditory Feedback

Intervention Type OTHER

Runners will be instructed to match their step rate to a target step rate, 10% above their baseline step rate. A metronome will be played over a speaker to provide real-time auditory feedback of the target step rate.

Real-time Verbal Feedback

Intervention Type OTHER

The clinician will provide real-time verbal feedback to runner to "pull your foot off the ground as quickly as you can," every 15 seconds during the retraining condition.

Interventions

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Real-time Visual Feedback

Runners will visualize their real-time ground contact time (GCT) measured by the RunScribe on a TV screen. They will be instructed to run with a goal of matching their target GCT. Their target GCT will be 5% less than their baseline.

Intervention Type OTHER

Real-time Auditory Feedback

Runners will be instructed to match their step rate to a target step rate, 10% above their baseline step rate. A metronome will be played over a speaker to provide real-time auditory feedback of the target step rate.

Intervention Type OTHER

Real-time Verbal Feedback

The clinician will provide real-time verbal feedback to runner to "pull your foot off the ground as quickly as you can," every 15 seconds during the retraining condition.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Military Service Member or USMA cadet between the ages of 17-60
* Run at least 2 miles three times per week for the past 3 months
* Able to run for at least 15 continuous minutes at a self-selected speed
* Fluent in the English language to read and provide informed consent and follow study instructions

Exclusion Criteria

* Lower extremity or low back pain in the previous 3 months
* Lower extremity or low back surgery in the previous 6 months
* Self-reported pregnancy or given birth within the last 6 months
* Currently on a profile that restricts or limits running
Minimum Eligible Age

17 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Keller Army Community Hospital

FED

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Jennah Bulen

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Keller Army Community Hospital

West Point, New York, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Jennah Bulen, DPT

Role: CONTACT

315-774-8350

Jamie Morris, DPT, DSc

Role: CONTACT

315-774-8350

Facility Contacts

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Kenneth L Cameron, PhD

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

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24KACH008

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

KACH.2025.0009

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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