Thermographic Assessment of Eccentric Overload Training Within Three Days of a Running Session

ABSTRACTSanz-López, F, Martínez-Amat, A, Hita-Contreras, F, Valero-Campo, C, and Berzosa, C. Thermographic assessment of eccentric overload training within three days of a running session. J Strength Cond Res 30(2)504–511, 2016—The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in patellar and Achilles tendons between a group trained using eccentric overload and an untrained group within 3 days of a running session. To this end, infrared thermography (IRT) will be used. Twenty healthy male subjects were divided into 2 groups. One group performed a 6-week squat training in the flywheel before the running session. During the running intervention, both groups ran in 3 different days, for 1 hour each, at 80% maximal heart rate. Before, just after, and after 10 minutes of the running intervention, participants were assessed using IRT. Eccentrically trained groups showed a statistically significant difference (analysis of variance, p = 0.0049) expressed as a smaller bilateral increase in temperature in the patellar tendon just before the first running day (right side, 0.11° C; left side, 0.29° C). On the other days of running and in the Achilles tendon groups, similar changes were observedan increase in the temperature after running and no significant difference between contralateral limbs. Our results point at eccentric overload training providing a better adaptation for the first day of running. IRT is an easy-to-apply noninvasive tool to analyze and compare the effects of performance on tendon tissues.