FEMALES' RUNNING STYLE IMPERILS THEIR KNEES.

• Position: Brief Article

Female athletes may be able to decrease the chance of tearing the anterior cruciate ligaments in their knees if they crouch a little while running in certain sports activities, indicates William E. Garrett Jr., chairman, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill. In a study, he found that female athletes tended to perform certain running and/or cutting maneuvers in a more erect position than males. As a result, females generated greater forces on the quadriceps muscles and less on hamstrings than the males did. This could contribute to increased occurrences of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) ruptures.

Garrett suggests performing certain athletic activities in a more crouched...