16 Weeks of Progressive Barefoot Running Training Changes Impact Force and Muscle Activation in Habitual Shod Runners

Abstract

Short-term effects of barefoot and simulated barefoot running have been widely discussed in recent years. Consequences of adopting barefoot running for a long period, including as a training approach, still remain unknown. The present study evaluated the influence of 16 weeks of progressive barefoot running training on impact force and muscle activation in habitual shod runners. Six habitual shod runners (3 men and 3 women, 29.5 ± 7.3 years) were tested barefoot (BF) and shod (SH), before and after 16 weeks of progressive barefoot running training. Tests consisted of running on instrumented treadmill at 9 km/h, for 10 minutes in each experimental condition. Nine data acquisitions (10 s) of vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) and electromyographic (EMG) signal were conducted in each experimental condition for each test. BF training was effective to alter VGRF and EMG parameters of running in habitual shod runners, regardless of footwear condition (SH or BF). The magnitude of first peak of VGRF (Fy1) and the impulse of the first 50 ms decreased after training for BF and SH (p<0.01). The activation reduced from PRE to POST training for four muscles in BF running (p<0.001), whereas only muscle gastrocnemius lateralis decreased significantly its activation (p<0.01) in SH running. A 16-week progressive barefoot running training seems to be an effective training strategy to reduce impact force, improve shock attenuation and to decrease muscle activation intensity, not only in BF running, but also in SH running, although BF condition seems to be more influenced by BF training.

Sport Biomechanics Applications Using Inertial, Force, and EMG Sensors: A Literature Overview

“…The most common approach to the analysis of sEMG signals is the assessment of the maximum or mean amplitude of the envelope, with or without normalisation to the maximum voluntary contraction [ 71 – 74 , 76 – 87 , 89 – 95 , 97 – 106 ]. The analysis of timing is also common in sport science, with usual approaches ranging from the detection of the onset and offset of sEMG activity and global and local maxima detection to examination of the entire time course using statistical parametric mapping [ 72 – 74 , 76 – 79 , 81 , 83 , 89 – 93 , 96 , 100 , 102 ].…”

“…The majority of the studies included the recordings of less than nine muscles [ 72 , 73 , 77 – 85 , 87 , 91 – 95 , 98 – 106 , 158 ], while only a few considered a number between nine and 16 [ 74 , 76 , 86 , 88 , 90 , 96 ] or bigger than 16 [ 71 , 97 ]. Most of the studies considered muscles of the lower limb [ 71 – 73 , 77 , 78 , 81 , 83 – 85 , 89 , 90 , 92 , 93 , 95 , 96 , 98 , 104 , 106 , 115 ], with the remaining focussing on the trunk and/or upper limb [ 74 , 76 , 80 , 82 , 87 , 94 , 100 , 102 , 103 , 106 ] or both the upper and lower body [ 79 , 86 , 88 , 91 , 97 , 99 , 101 ]. Bilateral recordings (involving the left and right hand side of the same muscles) were less common [ 71 , 74 , 77 , 82 , 86 , 88 , 90 , 97 , 98 , 101 ] than ipsilateral [ 72 , 7...…”

No immediate effects of highly cushioned shoes on basic running biomechanics

“…Whether the continued usage of the highly cushioned shoes over a longer adaptation period would have changed the lower extremity kinematics is unknown. Studies indicate that habituation into barefoot running or minimalist shoes running can change running biomechanics (Azevedo, Mezencio, Amadio, & Serrao, 2016). Although no study on habituation has been done using highly cushioned shoes, it may be worthwhile to investigate the habituation effects of highly cushioned shoes on running biomechanics over a longer period of time.…”

Motor Skills of Children and Adolescents Are Influenced by Growing up Barefoot or Shod

“…Other studies [ 19 , 20 ] however, did not observe any relationships between the foot arch structure and the performance in sprinting, jumping and balancing. Another possible reason for the differences in motor skills between both populations may be different adaptations of muscle strength to regular physical activities with or without footwear [ 19 , 21 , 22 ]. One study [ 23 ] showed that foot muscle strength is associated with sprinting and jumping skills in preschool-age children.…”