The influence of gearing footwear on running biomechanics

Wannop, John W.; Killick, Anthony; Madden, Ryan; Stefanyshyn, Darren J.

doi:10.1080/19424280.2017.1342705

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Based on lower limb-joint analyses, which do not necessarily reflect muscle dynamics, 21, 22 metatarsophalangeal- and ankle-joint dynamics are more affected during running with the addition of carbon fiber plates to shoe soles than knee- and hip-joints. 13, 14, 23–25 Further, intrinsic foot muscles do not directly affect running economy, 26 indicating that altered plantar flexor dynamics during running with versus without carbon fiber plates added to shoe soles may help explain changes in running economy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles does not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Beck

Golyski

Sawicki

2020

Preprint

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In an attempt to improve their distance-running performance, many athletes race with carbon fiber plates embedded in their 20 shoe soles. Accordingly, we sought to establish whether, and if so how, adding carbon fiber plates to shoes soles reduces athlete 21 aerobic energy expenditure during running (improves running economy). We tested 15 athletes during running at 3.5 m/s in four 22 footwear conditions that varied in shoe sole carbon fiber plate bending stiffness. For each condition, we quantified athlete aerobic 23 energy expenditure and performed biomechanics analyses, which included the use of ultrasound imaging to examine soleus muscle 24 dynamics in vivo. Overall, increased footwear bending stiffness lengthened ground contact time (p=0.048), but did not affect ankle 25 (p≥0.060), knee (p≥0.128), or hip (p≥0.076) joint angles or moments. Additionally, increased footwear bending stiffness did not affect 26 muscle activity (all seven measured leg muscles (p≥0.146)), stride averaged active soleus volume, (p=0.068) or aerobic power 27 (p=0.458) during running. Hence, footwear bending stiffness does not appear to alter the volume of aerobic energy consuming muscle 28 in the soleus, or any other leg muscle, during running. Therefore, adding carbon fiber plates to shoe soles slightly alters whole-body 29 and calf muscle biomechanics but does not improve running economy. 30 31 In competitive athletics, marginal differences distinguish champions from their competitors. For instance, if any of the top-five 2016 33Olympic women's marathon finishers ran 0.51% faster, they would have been crowned Olympic champion. Such miniscule 34 differences highlight the importance for athletes to optimize all factors that influence race performance. One way to further optimize 35 athletic performance is to don the best footwear. Using footwear that reduces athlete aerobic energy expenditure at a given running 36 speed (improves their running economy) can augment distance-running performance by decreasing their relative aerobic intensity. 1-3 37An established method of improving footwear to augment athlete distance-running performance is to reduce its mass. 1,2,4,5 Based on 38 literature values, if an aforementioned Olympic marathoner re-raced in shoes that were 100 g less than their original footwear, they 39 would have expended aerobic energy at an ~0.8% slower rate, 5 run the marathon ~0.56% faster, 6 and taken the gold medal back to 40 their home country. 42A longstanding footwear technology that has recently polarized the running community is the use of carbon fiber plates in shoe soles. 7 43Despite the rampant use of carbon fiber plates in athletics, 8-10 many seek to regulate the use of these plates in distance-running 44 footwear based on the notion that they provide wearers an 'unfair advantage' over competitors without such technology. 11 These 45 views persist even though it is inconclusive whether adding carbon fiber to shoe soles improves running economy. [12][13][14][15][16] To date, two 46 studies have reported that...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles does not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Beck

Golyski

Sawicki

2020

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…To date, no study has assessed muscle fascicle dynamics from athletes running with shoes that have carbon fiber soles. Based on leg-joint analyses, which do not necessarily reflect the underlying fascicle dynamics 22 , 23 , metatarsophalangeal- and ankle-joint dynamics are more affected during running with the addition of carbon fiber plates to shoe soles than knee- and hip-joint dynamics 13 , 14 , 24 – 26 . Since intrinsic foot muscles do not directly affect running economy 27 , altered plantar flexor fascicle dynamics may help explain changes in running economy with versus without carbon fiber plates added to shoe soles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles may not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Beck

Golyski

Sawicki

2020

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In an attempt to improve their distance-running performance, many athletes race with carbon fiber plates embedded in their shoe soles. Accordingly, we sought to establish whether, and if so how, adding carbon fiber plates to shoes soles reduces athlete aerobic energy expenditure during running (improves running economy). We tested 15 athletes as they ran at 3.5 m/s in four footwear conditions that varied in shoe sole bending stiffness, modified by carbon fiber plates. For each condition, we quantified athlete aerobic energy expenditure and performed biomechanical analyses, which included the use of ultrasonography to examine soleus muscle dynamics in vivo. Overall, increased footwear bending stiffness lengthened ground contact time (p = 0.048), but did not affect ankle (p ≥ 0.060), knee (p ≥ 0.128), or hip (p ≥ 0.076) joint angles or moments. Additionally, increased footwear bending stiffness did not affect muscle activity (all seven measured leg muscles (p ≥ 0.146)), soleus active muscle volume (p = 0.538; d = 0.241), or aerobic power (p = 0.458; d = 0.04) during running. Hence, footwear bending stiffness does not appear to alter the volume of aerobic energy consuming muscle in the soleus, or any other leg muscle, during running. Therefore, adding carbon fiber plates to shoe soles slightly alters whole-body and calf muscle biomechanics but may not improve running economy.

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“…As mentioned above, a previous study by Roy and Stefanyshyn (2006) reported that the peak ankle moment would increase with a larger LBS during running on a treadmill with an inclination of 1%. However, some other previous studies found that there would be neither difference in the peak ankle moment or average ankle moment (Wannop et al, 2017;Beck et al, 2020). In addition, a study by Willwacher et al (2014) published in 2014 demonstrated that running on shoes with moderate stiffness could have a lower mean ankle moment than running on control shoes (Llbs).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Effects of footwear with different longitudinal bending stiffness on biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics of lower limbs in adolescent runners

et al. 2022

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Background: Running shoes with carbon plates have been identified to have positive effects on improving running performance from a biomechanical perspective. However, the specific difference between the effects of carbon plates with different longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS)on biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics of lower limbs in adolescent runners remains unclear. This study aimed to identify the difference in biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics in lower limbs during running stance phases between wearing shoes with low longitudinal bending stiffness (Llbs) and high longitudinal bending stiffness (Hlbs) carbon plates in adolescent runners.Methods: 10 male adolescent runners with a habit of daily running exercise (age: 13.5 ± 0.6 years; height: 166.3 ± 1.9 cm; bodyweight: 50.8 ± 3.1 kg; foot length: 25.4 ± 0.2 cm) were recruited and asked to conduct two times of tests by wearing shoes with Llbs and Hlbs carbon plates in a randomized order. Paired t-test and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis were used to identify the difference in biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics in lower limbs during running stance phases.Result: Under the condition of wearing shoes with Hlbs, the time of foot contact significantly increased, whereas the range of motion (ROM) of hip and metatarsophalangeal (MTP) in the sagittal plane significantly reduced as well as the peak moment of ankle joint in the sagittal plane. The activations of vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, flexor digitorum brevis (flex dig brevis), and flexor hallucis longus (flex hall long) significantly increased under the condition of wearing shoes with Hlbs. According to the results of the SPM analysis, the joint angles (hip, ankle, and MTP), the net joint moments (knee, ankle, and MTP), and the muscle forces (gluteus maximus and tibialis anterior) were significant difference during the running stance phase between conditions of wearing shoes with Hlbs and Llbs.Conclusion: Running shoes with Llb carbon plates are appropriate for adolescent runners due to the advantages of biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics.

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The influence of gearing footwear on running biomechanics

Cited by 10 publications

References 26 publications

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles does not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles does not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles may not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation

Effects of footwear with different longitudinal bending stiffness on biomechanical characteristics and muscular mechanics of lower limbs in adolescent runners

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