Max Paquette

University of Memphis | U of M · College of Health Sciences

Super-shoes” are designed to improve endurance running performance by reducing the metabolic demands of running. While the research on “super-shoes” is still developing and has mostly been studied in male runners, it is not clear how possible mediating factors, such as foot strike pattern, influence the metabolic cost and joint mechanics in competi...

Introduction Running offers a 40% reduction in premature mortality risk, but high rates of musculoskeletal injury. We aimed to investigate 1) if collecting and analysing wristwatch inertial measurement unit (IMU) and global positioning system (GPS) data using a commercially-available training platform was feasible in recreational runners and 2) whi...

The increased running participation in women and men over 40 years has contributed to scientific interest on the age‐related and gender differences in running performance and biomechanics over the last decade. Gender differences in running biomechanics have been studied extensively in young runners, with inconsistent results. Understanding how gend...

The study aims to investigate the effects of different loads and speed during running on inter- and intra-individual muscle force amplitudes, variabilities and coordination patterns. Nine healthy participants ran on an instrumentalized treadmill with an empty weight vest at two velocities (2.6 m/s and 3.3 m/s) or while carrying three different load...

Purpose: Tibial bone stress injuries are a common overuse injury among runners and military cadets. Current treatment involves wearing an orthopedic walking boot for three to twelve weeks, which limits ankle motion and leads to lower limb muscle atrophy. A Dynamic Ankle Orthosis (DAO) was designed that provides a distractive force that offloads in...

External load variables such as peak tibial acceleration (PTA), peak vertical ground reaction forces (GRF) and its instantaneous vertical loading rate (IVLR) may contribute to running injuries although evidence is conflicting given the influence of training load and tissue health on injuries. These variables are influenced by footwear, speed, surfa...

Return-to-run protocols following lower extremity injuries commonly include a gradual training and loading progression to allow positive adaptation of musculoskeletal tissue. Before full return to running, training drills designed to provide a low to high external loading progression (i.e., vertical forces) may therefore minimize the risks of re-in...

Purpose: This study assessed the effects of footwear longitudinal bending stiffness on running economy and biomechanics of rearfoot striking older runners. Methods: Nine runners over 60 years of age completed two running bouts at their preferred running pace in each of three footwear conditions: low (4.4 ± 1.8 N·m⁻¹), moderate (5.7 ± 1.7 N·m⁻¹), an...

The primary purpose of this study was to examine how the type and magnitude of changes in running behavior, as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, influence running-related injuries. Secondarily, we aimed to examine how lifestyle and psychosocial well-being measures may influence running behavior change. An online survey was advertised...

Dynamical systems theory suggests that studying the complexity of biological signals could lead to a single gait metric that reliably predicts risk of running-related injury (RRI). The purposes of this pilot study were to examine center of mass (COM) acceleration complexity at baseline, prior to RRI, and the change between timepoints between colleg...

In running assessments, biomechanics of the stance phase are often measured to understand external loads applied to the body. Identifying time of initial foot contact can be challenging in runners with different strike patterns. Peak downward velocity of the pelvis (PDVP) has been validated in a laboratory setting to detect initial contact. Inertia...

Background Over two million Americans visit the doctor each year for foot and ankle pain stemming from a degenerative condition or injury. Ankle-foot orthoses can effectively manage symptoms, but traditional designs have limitations. This study investigates the acute impact of a novel “dynamic ankle-foot orthosis” (“orthosis”) in populations with m...

Daugherty, HJ, Weiss, LW, Paquette, MR, Powell, DW, and Allison, LE. Potential predictors of vertical jump performance: Lower extremity dimensions and alignment, relative body fat, and kinetic variables. J Strength Cond Res 35(3): 616-625, 2021-The association of structural and kinetic variables with restricted vertical jump (RVJ) displacement with...

Recently, we proposed the hypothesis that weekly running volume and preferred running pace may play a role in preserving ankle joint kinetics in middle-age runners as ankle joint kinetics were generally similar in young and middle-aged runners with similar running volume and preferred pace. To further address this hypothesis, we compared lower extr...

Training load is commonly used to monitor training stress and is the product of external and internal physiological loads experienced by an athlete. With emerging wearable technology, it is possible to evolve existing external load measurement from duration or distance to runner-specific biomechanical data, which when combined with existing measure...

Context Historically, methods of monitoring training loads in runners have used simple and convenient metrics, including the duration or distance run. Changes in these values are assessed on a week-to-week basis to induce training adaptations and manage injury risk. To date, whether different measures of external loads, including biomechanical meas...

Context: Changes in lower limb loading and movement quality after prolonged running and training periods might influence injury risks in runners. Objectives: To assess (1) the effects of a single prolonged run and a 3-week running training program on peak tibial acceleration (PTA) during running and Functional Movement Screen (FMS) criterion tes...

Distal-to-proximal redistribution of joint work occurs following exhaustive running in recreational but not competitive runners but the influence of a submaximal run on joint work is unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess if a long submaximal run produces a distal-to-proximal redistribution of positive joint work in well-trained runners....

Running promotes better cardiovascular health and has positive effects on the musculoskeletal system in older adults. However, older adults have lower ankle plantarflexor torques and positive powers during running, and exhibit changes in plantarflexor morphology than young adults. Since older runners who run as much as younger runners exhibit youth...

Background: Quantifying total running distance is valuable, as it comprises some aspects of the mechanical/neuromuscular, cardiovascular, and perceptual/psychological loads that contribute to training stress and is partially predictive of distance running success. However, running distance is only one aspect contributing to training stress. Clini...

International Journal of Exercise Science 13(1): 1098-1107, 2020. Currently, no gold standard electromyography (EMG) normalizing technique exists when conducting between-muscle comparisons of muscle activity during isotonic resistance training exercises. The aim of this study was to assess if between-muscle activation during the back-squat differed...

Background Traditional testing to identify asymmetries after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction include four similar horizontal hopping tests. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a single-leg vertical hopping test can identify performance and biomechanical asymmetries, and whether performance asymmetries provide unique informa...

Current frameworks on running-related injury (RRI) aetiology emphasise the relation between exposure to training load, internal tissue loads, and tissue capacity; with tissue load exceeding its capacity being the key biological mechanism in the development of RRI. Despite this, runners and clinicians commonly attribute improper prescription of runn...

Aging is associated with a distal-to-proximal shift in joint kinetics during walking. This plasticity of gait is amplified rather than attenuated in old adults with high physical capacity. Because running is associated with greater kinetic demands at the ankle, older individuals with more versus less lifetime running exposure may retain a larger pr...

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to identify principles of exercise interventions associated with improved physical function, weight management or musculoskeletal pain relief among young and middle-aged adults with obesity and propose an evidence-based exercise prescription that could assist in secondary prevention of osteoarthrit...

Conflicting methodologies are used to define certain countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ) phases, which limits identification of performance-enhancing factors (e.g., rate of force development). Purpose: We (a) utilized a joint power approach to define CMVJ phases that accurately describe body weight unloading (i.e., unweighting) and eccentric (i....

Patients who sustain irreversible cartilage damage or joint instability from ankle injuries are likely to develop ankle osteoarthritis. A Dynamic Ankle Orthosis (DAO) was recently designed with the intent to offload the foot and ankle using a distractive force, allowing more natural sagittal and frontal plane ankle motion during gait. To evaluate i...

The Master runner (age 35 y and above) represents a unique athletic patient. Lifelong participation in endurance running slows the inevitable age-related decline in aerobic function and muscular strength. Still, the Master runner does not escape the inevitable effects of aging. Master runners experience a steady decline in running performance, that...

It is unclear whether weighted vest (WV) use improves countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ) performance by enhancing stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) function via increased storage and utilisation of elastic strain energy. In is also unknown whether WV use stimulates different responses in men and women. WV effects on energy storage and utilisation du...

The deadlift and back and front squats are common multijoint, lower-body resistance exercises that target similar musculature. To our knowledge, muscle activity measured using surface electromyography has never been analyzed among these 3 exercises. Furthermore, most literature examining this topic has included male participants creating a void in...

Purpose: Rest-pause (4 s unloaded rest between repetitions) single session training effects on lifting volume, and muscle activity via electromyography (EMG) are currently vague in the literature and can benefit strength and conditioning professionals for resistance training program design. This study compared differences in volume lifted and musc...

Smith, RE, Paquette, MR, Harry, JR, Powell, DW, and Weiss, LW. Footwear and sex differences in performance and joint kinetics during maximal vertical jumping. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2018-This investigation examined the effects of footwear and sex on vertical jump displacement and joint power contributions. Twenty-three young adults wit...

In response to the target article by Nigg et al (2017) suggesting the need to shift towards new running injury paradigms, we comment on the need to continue investigating a variety of paradigms, new and old, and on poorly studied factors that necessitate the need to continue digging deeper in the pursuit of better prediction of injury development....

This study sought to identify kinetic and electromyographic (EMG) sub-phase characteristics distinguishing good from poor jumpers during countermovement vertical jumps (CMVJ), as defined by the reactive strength index (CMVJ displacement divided by jump time; RSI; cutoff=.46 m/s). Fifteen men (1.8±.6 m; 84.5±8.5 kg; 24±2 y) were stratified by RSI in...

The deadlift and back and front squats are common multi-joint, lower body resistance exercises that target similar musculature. To our knowledge, muscle activity measured via surface electromyography (EMG) has never been analyzed among these three exercises. Furthermore, most literature examining this topic has included male participants creating a...

Purpose: To compare running biomechanics between young and middle-aged runners when controlling for the confounding effects of training volume and intensity. Methods: 15 middle-aged runners, 15 young runners with similar training volume as the middle-aged group and, 15 young runners with similar preferred training paces (i.e. intensity) as the m...

Purpose: Rest-pause (4-s unloaded rest between repetitions) training effects on one repetition maximum (1 RM), lifting volume, and neural activation via electromyography (EMG) are currently vague in the literature and can benefit strength and conditioning professionals for resistance training programme design. Therefore, this study compared 1 RM,...

There are many different types of aerobic cross-training modalities currently available. It is important to consider the effects that these different modalities have on running performance and injury risks. The purpose of this study was to compare movement quality, running economy and performance, injury-related biomechanical variables and, hip mus...

Purpose High-arched athletes (HA) exhibit greater lower extremity stiffness during functional tasks than low-arched athletes (LA). The contributions of skeletal and muscular structures to stiffness may underlie the distinct injury patterns observed in these athletes. The purpose of this study was to compare skeletal and muscular contributions to le...

Runners often experience delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), especially of the knee extensors, following prolonged running. Sagittal knee joint biomechanics are altered in the presence of knee extensor DOMS but it is unclear how muscle soreness affects lower limb biomechanics in other planes of motion. The purpose of this study was to assess the...

The purposes of this study were to compare selected biomechanical variables before and after a long run, and to assess the relationship between weekly running volume and changes in lower limb biomechanics after the run. Twelve trained habitual rearfoot strike male runners ran over-ground before and after a treadmill long run while kinematic and kin...

Research has focused on the effects of acute strike pattern modifications on lower extremity joint stiffness and running economy (RE). Strike pattern modifications on running biomechanics have mostly been studied while runners complete short running bouts. This study examined the effects of an imposed forefoot strike (FFS) on RE and ankle and knee...

Purpose: Toe-in (TI) and toe-in with wider step width (TIW) gait modifications have successfully reduced the internal peak knee adduction moment (KAM) during level walking and stair ascent tasks, respectively, for healthy and knee osteoarthritis populations. However, the concurrent effects of these modifications have not previously been combined t...

Purpose: This study compared the effects of computerized agility training using 3 types of footwear on change-of-direction and balance performance in young adults. Method: Thirty recreationally active young adults (Mage = 22.8 ± 3.1 years; Mheight = 1.71 ± 0.7 m; Mbodymass = 73.4 ± 10.3 kg) were randomly assigned to a 6-week computerized agility...

Injuries often force runners to cross-train in an attempt to maintain fitness with less or no pain. Little research has been conducted to identify the most optimal cross-training modalities for runners. PURPOSE: To compare running economy, hip adduction and functional movement screening (FMS) before and after training from three types of cross-trai...

Thematic Poster presented at the annual meeting of the ACSM.

Vertical jump (VJ) capability is integral to the level of success attained by individuals participating in numerous sport and physical activities. Knowledge of factors related to jump performance may help with talent identification and/or optimizing training prescription. Although myriad variables are likely related to VJ, this study focused on det...

Body dimensions may influence various types of physical performance. This study was designed to establish the reliability and precision of bilateral lower-body dimensions using surface anatomic landmarks and either sliding calipers or goniometry. Fifty university students (25 men and 25 women) were measured on two separate occasions separated by 48...

Biomechanical comparative studies on running-related injuries have included either currently or retrospectively injured runners. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare ankle joint and ground reaction force variables between collegiate runners who developed injuries during the cross country season and those who did not. Running gait...

Foot strike pattern and movement variability have each been associated with running injuries. Foot contact angle (FCA) is a common measure of strike pattern. Thus, variability in FCA could be an important running injury risk factor. The purposes of this study were to compare 1) foot contact angle (FCA) and its variability between runners with and w...

The purpose of this study was to compare knee and hip joint kinematics previously associated with anterior knee pain and metabolic cost among treadmill running (TM), standard elliptical (SE), and lateral elliptical (LE) in healthy runners. Joint kinematics and metabolic parameters of sixteen runners were collected during all three modalities using...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction of foot strike and common speeds on sagittal plane ankle and knee joint kinetics in competitive RFS runners when running with a RFS pattern and an imposed FFS pattern. Sixteen competitive habitual male RFS runners ran at two different speeds (i.e., 8min•mile-1 and 6min•mile-1) using their...