Módulo tangente do tendão calcanear em corredores

Abstract

The number of people interested in running as a sport has been increasing exponentially enhancing the technological advances and research related to this practice, motivated by the improvement of the runners performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the tangent modulus of the calcanear tendon (CT) of runners. Thirty individuals participated in the study, where 10 formed the reliability group, 8 recreational runners and 12 athletes (6 from the modality of 5 and 10 km and 6 from other modalities). The test consisted of passive mobilizations of the ankle joint, at a speed of 5º/s, of 30º of plantar flexion until the maximum amplitude stipulated by each individual, simulataneous to the monitoring of the displacement of the myotendine junction with ultrasonography. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and the Typical Measurement Error (TME) were applied to verify the reliability of all parameters, where the coefficients obtained indicated reliability ranging from reasonable to excellent. No significant differences were found between the parameters when comparing the recreational and athletes runners. However, the group of 10 Km runners had a higher maximum tangent modulus (403.67 ± 64.53 MPa) than that of runners in other modalities (213.15 ± 43.27 MPa). This study points to higher values of CT stiffness in long distance runners."