Improving spatio-temporal stride parameters, lower limb muscles activity and race walkers' records after 12-weeks special exercises using rhythmic auditory

This study aims to know the effect of 12-weeks of special exercises using rhythmic auditory to improve spatio-temporal stride parameters (STSP), lower limb muscles activity (LLMA), and 10000m racewalking time (RT). The parameters of STSP are stride length (SL), step cadence (SC), and center-of-mass velocity (CMV). The research sample included twelve racewalkers, and they were divided into two groups (control group and experimental group, six in each). STSP was measured using a Sony camera at a speed of 50 frames/sec for analyzing 25-samples for each racewalker in the 10000m racewalking. LLMA was measured using EMG. In addition, we applied the 10000m test to measure RT. Rhythmic auditory was used to regulate the step rhythm in seven special exercises and the essential part of the training. The steps rhythm was divided into three levels: the 1st slow auditory rhythm, the 2nd comfortable auditory rhythm, and the 3rd fast auditory rhythm. From our findings, there is a significant difference in the post-test for SC, CMV, LLMA, and RT, favoring the experimental group, where P.04<.05, η2=.732 for SC, P.038<.05, η2=.485 for CMV, P.015<.05, η2=.333 for LLMA, and P.044<.05, η2=.483 for RT. While there is no significant difference in the post-test for SL, where P.264>.05. In addition, there is a significant improvement between groups favoring the experimental group as ROC=1.62,5.76,7.48,33.9, and 7.03% for SL, SC, CMV, LLMA, and RT respectively. Comparisons showed that the post-test achieved greater improvement with a large effect in STSP, LLMA, and RT compared to the pre-test that achieved a small effect. Therefore, the rhythmic auditory in the training has a beneficial role in improving spatio-temporal stride parameters, lower limb muscles activity and racewalkers' records.