Which muscles power the human running stride?

Abstract

Running is a physically demanding activity that requires explosive delivery of muscle power to the ground during stance, and precise, yet rapid limb coordination during swing. In particular, as running speed increases, greater metabolic energy in the form of muscle mechanical work is required to power the motion of: i) the center-of-mass (i.e., external power); and ii) the individual limb segments (i.e., internal power) [1,2]. The purpose of this study was to quantify the contributions that individual muscles make to the external and internal power of the body across a range of running speeds so as to identify the key muscle groups in coordinating a full running stride.