高強度跑步能使肌腱更有效率地工作
Running burns More calories than any other mainstream exercise. But despite the fact that running has been proven to reduce your risk of chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, type two diabetes and stroke, there has been a lot of debate around whether our bodies truly can adapt to running long distances, such as marathons. It is known that the heart and lungs can become stronger and more efficient to help propel you forward – but what about your muscles and tendons? Can they adapt to make the very act of running more efficient, too?
跑步比其他任何一項主流運動都更消耗卡路里。儘管事實上跑步已經被證明能夠降低患慢性病的風險，例如心臟病、兩種類型的糖尿病以及中風，對於我們的身體是否真的能適應長距離地跑步，例如馬拉松，仍舊存在爭論。我們知道，心臟和肺能變得更強大，推動你前進——但是肌腱呢？他們也能使跑步變得更有效率嗎？This 26.2 mile race got its name from the legend of Pheidippides, who ran slightly less than 26 miles from Marathon to Athens to announce the Athenian army’s victory over the Persians. Once poor Pheidippides arrived and proclaimed: “Rejoice, we conquer”, he is said to have fallen over dead. Could this simply have been the sorry result of his lack of long-distance training?
這項26.2英里的跑步比賽得名於斐裏庇得斯的傳說，他從馬拉松到雅典跑了差不多26英里來宣佈雅典軍隊戰勝波斯的消息。當可憐的斐裏庇得斯到達並一說完：“歡呼吧，我們贏了”之後，他就倒地而亡了。這能簡單說成是他缺乏長距離訓練的結果嗎？The medical community is still largely in the dark on how our bodies react to long-distance running, but new research shows that, for regular runners, the beneficial adaptations are substantial. Through adaptations that happen gradually as you run further and more often the tendons of the legs can be used more efficiently in propelling you forward, meaning your muscles don’t need to work as hard.
醫學界很大程度上仍舊不知道我們的身體對長距離跑步作何反應，但是最新的研究表明，對於跑步規律的人來說，有益處的適應是實質性的。當你跑得更遠、更頻繁時，適應逐漸發生，腿部的筋能被更有效率地使用從而推動你向前，也意味着肌肉不需要工作得很辛苦。
And that’s not all. The benefits of these changes in muscle-tendon behaviour become more important at higher speeds. Because we need more energy to propel us forward at higher speeds, the advantage of efficient tendons becomes even greater the faster you go.
不僅僅如此。在更快速的跑步運動中，這種肌腱行爲改變帶來的益處更爲重要。因爲我們在更快速的跑步運動中需要更多的能量推動我們前進，有效的肌腱工作方式的益處在你跑得越快時作用越明顯。How we adapt
我們如何適應呢We conducted a study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, at Liverpool John Moores University on two groups of runners with very different levels of training: one group consistently ran 30 or more miles per week and the other less than 10 miles per week. And we have been able to draw important conclusions about the changes that come with increased running training.
我們在利物浦約翰摩爾斯大學針對兩組不同訓練強度的跑步者實施了一項實驗，結果發佈在《應用心理學》雜誌上：一組人持續每週跑三十或三十公里以上，另一組人每週跑低於十英里。我們從增加訓練量帶來的改變出發，獲得了重要的結論。We measured the firing patterns of thigh muscle groups and the knee joint motion of the runners using a combination of electromyography (EMG), 3D motion capture cameras, and a platform that measured the force during foot contact with the ground. The volunteers ran trials at four different speeds between five and 12 mph.
我們測量了實驗者大腿肌羣的放電模式，通過肌電圖、三維運動捕捉相機和一種測量腳接觸地面時力的平臺三者合一研究膝關節運動。實驗者在四種不同速度下的跑步試驗從5到12英里每小時不等。
