ProPulse Trainers and Rotational Movement Training on Running Economy and Performance

WeckMethod & Prehab Research Study

Review written by Brian Manalansan Gutierrez

Introduction

There are various modalities of training when it comes to performance enhancement, including powerlifting, functional training, but rotational movement training has been overlooked by many. In sports, such as baseball, golf, marathon running, and even powerlifting, there is a form of rotational movement required to execute certain movements vital to the sport. In baseball, swinging the baseball bat requires core activation and plyometric movements, such as sprinting and even jumping when catching the ball or over the opposing team as you try to reach for home base and not risk getting “tagged out.” In golf, the swing requires Type IIx muscle fiber activation for this plyometric movement. For marathon running, using your whole body and propelling off the ground, while managing your cadence, arm swings, and opposing lateral forces in order to efficiently reach the finish line. Powerlifting does not include the amount of load one can lift but the form and technique must be of equal importance in order to risk injury, as well as activate the appropriate muscle fibers targeted by a certain exercise. Conducting a power clean does not just require brute force and strength but torque. Torque is the amount of force required to cause an object to rotate on an axis. This vector quantity is what determines the ability to conduct a power clean, baseball swing, or sprint. If there is no target direction, then these movements and weights will lose control leading to a higher risk of injury and poor performance. This review discusses the ProPulse Speed Trainers created by WeckMethod, an organization that “offers new and innovative functional strength training equipment to enhance strength, mobility, balance, body mechanics, and improve athletic movement.” ProPulse Speed Trainers are rotational movement specific equipment designed to improve “stride frequency, cadence, and efficiency-integrating your upper and lower body to work as one complete system.” Running does not only require your legs nor does powerlifting require your arm strength, but it is also a holistic approach.

What is rotational movement training? As defined by WeckMethod, it is the ability to utilize your whole body in a manner that requires rotational movements, while integrating different parts of your body to maximize your performance. An important aspect of this is to train the core, which results in injury prevention and enhanced mobility. The local stabilizer muscles that are deeper than the global stabilizers, such as the trans versus abdominis, pelvic floor, and internal obliques, are not visibly seen are underappreciated compared to the global stabilizer muscles, such as the rectus abdominis, erector spinae, and external oblique, which are more superficial. These muscles assist in maintaining equilibrium and combating the forces placed upon the body, such as conducting a deadlift or running a mile (Bliven and Anderson, 2013). A movement cannot be conducted without a strong foundation and this is the core. Having postural control, balance, and stability greatly decreases the risk of injury because of the amount of stress and load eliminated from your extremities and joints. Moment arm or the length between the joint axis and the force is crucial when determining how much force is applied to a joint. Without a stable joint axis, in this case, the core musculature, more force will be applied at the extremities, thus increasing muscle stress and the risk of injury. This is the basis of what rotational movement is trying to accomplish.

Methods

The WeckMethod conducted a research study partnered with Prehab, a team of movement specialists from a variety of domains, including physical therapists, athletic trainers, gait analysts, running coaches, dieticians, yoga & group fitness teachers, and concussion management specialists. There were a variety of participants ranging in athletic abilities from sprinters, elite marathon runners, coaches, powerlifters, and novice athletes interested in the ProPulse Speed Trainers. Each individual was given the task to run ¼ mile after being pre-screened with the ability to have a maximum of a 9-minute mile pace. After the time was recorded, each participant conducted a treadmill test with photoelectric sensors, which analyzed mechanical work, elastic exchange, and running economy. This was determined by the cadence, contact time to the ground, forward lean, overstride, vertical displacement, braking force, vertical force, lateral force, frontal plane alignment, knee alignment, and joint loading to determine the runner profile of the participant. These runner profiles are eco sprinter, quick stepper, power racer, constant glider, easy strider, and long strider. After a 1-minute treadmill test at the pace that is a comfortable running pace for the participant, it was recommended that each individual train with the 12 oz. ProPulse Speed Trainers at their convenience with the assistance of guided training videos on the WeckMethod website, which were created by WeckMethod trainers. This writer trained with the ProPulse Trainers daily for 15–20 minutes. The exercises include, but are not limited to, stationary center pulsing, stationary same side pulsing, stationary shift pulsing, and shift running.

After 1 week, each participant was asked to return the same time of their initial evaluation, but were asked to conduct 4 runs, which were running ¼ mile free-hand, 1-minute treadmill test free-hand, followed by a 1-minute treadmill test with ProPulse Speed Trainers, ending with a ¼ mile run with the ProPulser Speed Trainer. The amount of rest was not recorded as the individual assessed their ability to engage in each component of the study.

Results

This writer presents with an initial ¼ mile time free-hand with one minute and six seconds and during the second assessment, a 9% improvement in free-hand running time was documented. Time was also recorded for ¼ mile run with Pro Pulse Speed Trainers with a 1.5% increase in performance. All measurements were taken with the variables stated above, but running economy, overstride, step separation, knee alignment, and joint loading were focused on regarding the runner profile. Initial running economy was 3.11 Joules/kg/m and after training with ProPulse Speed Trainers for one week, a 9.5% improvement was seen with or without ProPulse Speed Trainers during the treadmill tests. An important finding is the improvement of knee alignment from -2.3 degrees to -0.3 degrees indicating an improvement of right knee varus, as indicated in the data below. The torque force in the hip in the forward direction increased by approximately 15% translating to a decreased running time.

Lastly, the initial runner profile 17% eco sprinter improved with the ProPulse Speed Trainers with a runner profile of 28% eco sprinter after 1 week of training. The other components are not discussed as the main focus is the running economy. In addition, results with ProPulse Speed Trainers in the treadmill test were disregarded due to the notion that individuals will not run with equipment during a marathon, for example.

Discussion

The results indicate an improved running economy, knee alignment, and torque in the frontal plane. This all translates to enhanced performance. Aside from the various strategies to improving running economy, including, but not limited to altitude exposure, metabolic efficiency, and muscle fiber type profile, rotational movement training also reaps this benefit (Barnes and Kilding, 2014). The following factors in this review indicates that the ProPulse Speed Trainers greatly enhances performance and can translate to running, baseball, golf, powerlifting, which are just a few examples. The decreased run time, joint stabilization, and corrective ability of this equipment shows that any individual with various athletic abilities can utilize this in their training programs.

The knee and hip joints produce the torque needed during the stance phase in order to counteract the ground reaction forces (Zhong et al., 2017). This is vital for the performance of the lower extremities, aside from the work that the semimembranosus, semitendinosus, and biceps femoral muscles do, which make up the hamstring complex. Running performance is influenced by VO2 max and running economy with (Vikmoen et al., 2016). Results will vary among individuals that are trained and those who are trained “specifically” for the exercise, in this case running economy. In order to increase running economy, the hamstring complex is essential, so these muscles should be the main focus, right? That is not the case because the idea of specificity is crucial when training for a specific movement or sport. This is due to the neural connections to your muscles when trying to perform a specific action. These muscle fibers will innervate in a certain fashion to efficiently produce the movement.

Another component to keep in mind is the impact of limb-stiffness, in this case knee valgus and varus, as well and hip and glenohumeral joint mobility. The striking patterns indicated in the results, including the footwear will impact the ability to promote passive force generation resulting in the running economy seen in the individual (Zilaskoudis et al., 2019). The impairment in range of motion will lead to impaired performance as maximum potential of each arm and leg swing, while running, will increase the risk of injury due to the cadence time, overstride, and contact time with the ground.

In this runner profile, the characteristics of a long strider includes high forces against gravity, which is the second highest for injury risk. The higher elastic exchange, the ability to be “springy,” results in an increased running economy, which is the energy needed to move 1 kilogram of weight 1 meter forward. Overstride will increase injury risk, so cadence is what will influence this. The further one strikes will increase the force required to accelerate forward, which may lead to potential injuries. With the utilization of the ProPulse Speed Trainers, lateral and rotational movements are heavily focused when using this equipment and this is indicative with the amount of lateral force generated in the results. There is an improvement in knee varus indicating that this piece of equipment is a therapeutic means of restoring that balance, stability, and muscle innervation. This lateral force contradicts the forward force due to excessive tilting with the center of mass. Knee valgus and varus will influence step separation, which influences overstride. Ideally, there should be symmetry with both legs and training with the ProPulse Speed Trainers fixes this impairment, as indicated in the results. Overall, this equipment does translate to improved running economy and performance enhancement.

References

Barnes, K.R., Kilding, A.E. (2015). Strategies to Improve Running Economy. Sports Med 45, 37–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0246-y

Huxel Bliven, K. C., & Anderson, B. E. (2013). Core stability training for injury prevention. Sports health, 5(6), 514–522. https://doi.org/10.1177/1941738113481200

Vikmoen, O., Raastad, T., Seynnes, O., Bergstrøm, K., Ellefsen, S., & Rønnestad, B. R. (2016). Effects of Heavy Strength Training on Running Performance and Determinants of Running Performance in Female Endurance Athletes. PloS one, 11(3), e0150799. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150799

Zhong, Y., Fu, W., Wei, S., Li, Q., & Liu, Y. (2017). Joint Torque and Mechanical Power of Lower Extremity and Its Relevance to Hamstring Strain during Sprint Running. Journal of healthcare engineering, 2017, 8927415. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8927415

Ziliaskoudis, C., Park, S. Y., & Lee, S. H. (2019). Running economy — a comprehensive review for passive force generation. Journal of exercise rehabilitation, 15(5), 640–646. https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1938406.203