Project Title
Abstract/Description
Recently various sports footwear companies have produced different types of minimalist running shoes to mimic barefoot walking or running such as Vibram FiveFingers and Nike Free Run shoes. The purpose of this study was to examine the range of dorsiflexion and plantarflexion movements at the foot in barefoot conditions in comparison to Vibram FiveFingers and Nike Free Run minimalist shoes to evaluate if the minimalist footwear would affect ankle joint motion on both flat and inclined surfaces. Five elite female runners were chosen to run on a treadmill for 30s at the speed of 3 m/s on an incline of 0%, 4%, and 8%. Reflective markers were placed on the shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, and toe. Joint angles during heel strike, mid support, and toe off were then calculated and compared to determine the degree of dorsiflexion and plantarflexion movements while running at various inclines. A standard two-dimensional kinematic analysis was then conducted for foot dorsiflexion and plantarflexion angles at the heel strike, mid support and toe off for each type of footwear in each incline angle. A two-way (3 types of footwear x 3 treadmill angles) repeated measures ANOVA test was conducted at α = 0.05 with Bonferroni adjustment if a significance was found. No statistical significant differences were found between the various types of footwear on three different inclines. These findings indicate that similar ankle joint movements were observed during the 0%, 4%, and 8% inclinations. Barefoot, FiveFingers and Free Run running shoes provide similar joint mobility during heel strike, mid support, and toe off; therefore, they all mimic barefoot running in the ankle joint.
Recommended Citation
Lloyd, Stephanie
(2013).
The Examination of Ankle Joint Motion between Barefoot and Minimalist Running Shoes on Various Inclines.
Undergraduate Review, 9, 82-86.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/undergrad_rev/vol9/iss1/18
Rights Statement
Articles published in The Undergraduate Review are the property of the individual contributors and may not be reprinted, reformatted, repurposed or duplicated, without the contributor’s consent.