Isometric gluteus medius muscle torque and frontal plane pelvic motion during running

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationshipbetween isometric gm torque and the degree of frontal planepelvic drop during running. twenty-one healthy, recreationalrunners (9 males, 12 females) who ran 8.05 km or more perweek were obtained from a sample of convenience. gm maximalisometric torque was collected prior to the run. subjectsthen ran on a treadmill for 30 minutes while bilateral threedimensionalpelvic kinematic data were collected for 10 secondsat each 2 minute increment. left side pelvic drop showed aslight increase (effect size = 0.61); while, the right side pelvicdrop remained stable (effect size = 0.18). pearson’s correlationsshowed no relationship between gm isometric torque and frontalplane pelvic drop for any of the data collection periods duringthe 30-minute run. these results suggest that isometric gmtorque was a poor predictor of frontal plane pelvic drop. oneshould question whether a dynamic rather than static measure ofgm strength would be more appropriate. future research isneeded to identify dynamic strength measures that would betterpredict biomechanical components of running gait.