Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of time-of-day on Preferred Transition Speed (PTS) and spatiotemporal organization of walking and running movements. Twelve active male subjects participated in the study (age: 27.2 ± 4.9 years; height: 177.9 ± 5.4 cm; body mass: 75.9 ± 5.86 kg). First, PTS was determined at 08:00 h and 18:00 h. The mean of the two PTS recorded at the two times-of-day tested was used as a reference (PTSm). Then, subjects were asked to walk and run on a treadmill at three imposed speeds (PTSm, PTSm + 0.3 m.s−1, and PTSm − 0.3 m.s−1) at 08:00 h and 18:00 h. Mean stride length, temporal stride, spatial stride variability, and temporal stride variability were used for gait analysis. The PTS observed at 08:00 h (2.10 ± 0.17 m.s−1) tends to be lower (p = 0.077) than that recorded at 18:00 h (2.14 ± 0.19 m.s−1). Stride lengths recorded while walking (p = 0.038) and running (p = 0.041) were shorter at 08:00 h than 18:00 h. No time-of-day effect was observed for stride frequency during walking and running trials. When walking, spatial stride variability (p = 0.020) and temporal stride variability (p = 0.028) were lower at 08:00 h than at 18:00 h. When running, no diurnal variation of spatial stride variability or temporal stride variability was detected.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
Notice of Correction:
A correction has been made to the correspondence address since this article’s original online publication date of October 13, 2014.