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- Naomi Eve Frankston is a PhD candidate at the Department of Physical Performance.
- On November 16, she will defend her dissertation:
"The effects of dynamic loading on in vivo second metatarsal bone stress in runners" - Read the dissertation here
- Learn more about the project
- Watch the defense live on NIH's YouTube channel
About the study
Bone stress injuries, including stress fractures, are common overuse injuries in runners and military recruits. These injuries are thought to occur when repeated loading exceeds the bone’s ability to repair and adapt. My PhD investigated how different running conditions influence bone stress in the second metatarsal, a foot bone that is commonly injured in both groups.
Participants completed running trials at different speeds, with and without a weight vest, and before and after a hard-effort 10 km run. We found that both running faster and wearing a weight vest increased bone stress in the foot, which may help explain the high rates of bone stress injuries in runners and military personnel. We also found that the 10 km run altered foot mechanics but not bone stress.
Another important finding was that bone stress in the foot varied considerably between individuals, suggesting that people may experience different amounts of bone stress under similar training conditions. When comparing different running conditions, individuals did not always follow the same trends as the group.
These findings highlight the importance of considering individual differences when assessing bone stress injury risk.
Results
- Running at faster speeds and with load carriage increased second metatarsal bone stress during running
- There were large individual differences in bone stress even under similar running conditions, and individual responses didn’t always follow group trends
- A 10 km run altered foot and ankle mechanics but not second metatarsal bone stress
- Second metatarsal external force was very strongly correlated with internal bone stress
- Bone stress estimates showed excellent repeatability within a day and reliability between days, and runners’ stride characteristics were also highly consistent within and between days
Program
10:15-11:00: Trial lecture on a given topic:
"Internal and external validity in sport science: evaluating the credibility and generalisability of research findings.Discuss how internal and external validity influence study design, interpretation and application of research findings. Draw primarily on examples from different areas of sport science to explain strengths, limitations and potential trade-offs between research approaches and use your doctoral project only briefly to illustrate selected methodological points."
- 13:00-16:00: Public defense followed by a discussion
Committee
Chair: Associate Professor Matthias Felix Gilgien, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences
Opponents:
Professor Veerle Segers, Ghent University, Belgium
Senior Lecturer Charlotte Apps, Nottingham Trent University, UK
Main Supervisor: Professor Hannah Rice
The defense will be chaired by Rector Aage Radmann
Practical Information
The defense is open to everyone and will be streamed on NIH's YouTube channel.