Differences Between Long Distance Road Runners and Treadmill Runners in Achilles Tendon Structure

Differences Between Long Distance Road Runners and Treadmill Runners in Achilles Tendon Structure, Muscle Strength, Proprioception and Balance Performance

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT06294093

Enrollment

Registered

2024-03-05

Start date

2024-06-10

Completion date

2025-08-15

Last updated

2026-01-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Achilles Tendon Injury

Keywords

Achilles tendon, running

Brief summary

this study will investigate the structure of the Achilles tendon and functional tests in road runners compared to treadmill runners.

Detailed description

Healthy runners (road and treadmill runners) who run regularly at least twice a week for half an hour, over 80% of the training on the treadmill or road, will be recruited for the study. All subjects will fill out a demographic questionnaire for personal details (age, sex, height, weight, past injuries, training). Each participant will undergo functional tests in random order: 1. Examination of the morphology of the Achilles tendon - will be examined by ultrasound tissue characterized (UTC) 2. Balance test - Y Balance Test 3. Proprioception test - AMEDA device 4. Muscle strength test - manual dynamometer for testing gastrocnemius muscle strength. 5. Gastrocnemius muscle endurance test - single leg heel raise test until fatigue. A comparison will be made between the two study groups.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

COHORT

Time perspective

CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 50 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* run regularly at least twice a week for half an hour, * over 80% of the training on a treadmill or road

Exclusion criteria

* pain or injury to Achilles tendon during the 6 months, preventing running for at least 3 days. * past Achilles tendon surgeries, * sprained ankle in the last six months, * lower limb and back pain while running * participants who report running with minimalist shoes.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
ultrasound tissue characterized	baseline	percentage of type 1,2,3,4 fibers within the tendon
Balance test	baseline	Y Balance Test - composite score: sum of 3 reach directions in centimeters divided by 3 times the limb length then multiplied by 100
Proprioception test	baseline	AMEDA device - scores between 0 and 1, A higher score represents better proprioception ability.
muscle strength test	baseline	hand held dynamometer dynamometer assessment of Gastrocnemius muscle
endurance test gastrocnemius muscle	baseline	number of single leg heel raise test until fatigue

Countries

Israel

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORGali Dar, Prof.

University of Haifa

Outcome results