Minimalist Running

The aim of this study was to compare selected ankle and knee kinematic and kinetic parameters before and a fter a prolonged exhaustive treadmill run between two groups of non-rearfoot footstrike pattern (NRFP) runners with different training volumes. Twenty-eight habitual NRFP runners were assigned to two groups based on their weekly training volume (Highly-trained (HT)/Moderately-trained (MT)). Participants underwent the VO2max test, and the exhaustive treadmill ran with biomechanical analysis at the beginning and the end...

The superior ability of dynamic legged locomotion in traversing rough terrain relative to wheeled or tracked mechanisms comes with the cost of fragile stability. Simple control methods that use only a few basic detection sensors and apply a single controller help robots keep their balance when traversing unforeseen rough terrain. Exploiting multiple controllers simultaneously, such as the free leg length and stiffness in our hopping monopod, can further improve robustness but is often mechanically hard to implement...

BACKGROUND: Lower-limb running injuries are common. Running shoes have been proposed as one means of reducing injury risk. However, there is uncertainty as to how effective running shoes are for the prevention of injury. It is also unclear how the effects of different characteristics of running shoes prevent injury. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects (benefits and harms) of running shoes for preventing lower-limb running injuries in adult runners. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the following databases: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, AMED, CINAHL Plus and SPORTDiscus plus trial registers WHO ICTRP and ClinicalTrials...

The objective of this study was to compare the immediate effects of modifications to footwear or cadence on lower limb biomechanics of female Masters runners. After analyzing habitual treadmill running biomechanics in 20 female runners (52.4 [8.3] y), we assessed the effects of 5 conditions: (1) barefoot running, (2) Merrell Vapor Glove, (3) Merrell Bare Access, (4) Brooks Pure Flow, and (5) increasing cadence by 10%. In comparison with habitual biomechanics, greater vertical loading rates of the ground reaction force were observed during running barefoot or with a Merrell Vapor Glove or Bare Access...

Endothelial cell (EC) migration is crucial for a wide range of processes including vascular wound healing, tumor angiogenesis, and the development of viable endovascular implants. We have previously demonstrated that ECs cultured on 15-μm wide adhesive line patterns exhibit three distinct migration phenotypes: (a) "running" cells that are polarized and migrate continuously and persistently on the adhesive lines with possible spontaneous directional changes, (b) "undecided" cells that are highly elongated and exhibit periodic changes in the direction of their polarization while maintaining minimal net migration, and (c) "tumbling-like" cells that migrate persistently for a certain amount of time but then stop and round up for a few hours before spreading again and resuming migration...

Tibial shock attenuation is part of the mechanism that maintains human body stabilization during running. It is crucial to understand how shock characteristics transfer from the distal to proximal joint in the lower limb. This study aims to investigate the shock acceleration and attenuation among maximalist shoes (MAXs), minimalist shoes (MINs), and conventional running shoes (CONs) in time and frequency domains. Time-domain parameters included time to peak acceleration and peak resultant acceleration, and frequency-domain parameters contained lower (3-8 Hz) and higher (9-20 Hz) frequency power spectral density (PSD) and shock attenuation...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cancer (PDAC) is a highly lethal malignancy requiring efficient detection when the primary tumor is still resectable. We previously developed the MxPancreasScore comprising 9 analytes and serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), achieving an accuracy of 90.6%. The necessity for 5 different analytical platforms and multiple analytical runs, however, hindered clinical applicability. We therefore aimed to develop a simpler single-analytical run, single-platform diagnostic signature...

This study developed a speech database for assessing one of the elements of physical literacy-physical competence. Thirty-one healthy and native Cantonese speakers were instructed to read a material aloud after various exercises. The speech database contained four types of speech, which were collected at rest and after three exercises of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy 2nd Edition. To show the possibility of detecting each exercise state, a support vector machine (SVM) was trained on the acoustic features...

INTRODUCTION: Changing running technique or equipment can alter tibial loads. The efficacy of interventions to modify tibial loads during running is yet to be synthesised and evaluated. This article reviewed the effect of running technique and footwear interventions on tibial loading during running. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched using terms relevant to tibial load and running. Interventions were categorised according to their approach (i.e., footwear; barefoot running; speed; surface; overground versus treadmill; orthotics, insoles and taping; and technique); if necessary, further subgrouping was applied to these categories...

We conducted an exploratory analysis to compare running kinematics of 16 male recreational runners wearing Nike Vaporfly 4% (VP4), Saucony Endorphin racing flat (FLAT), and their habitual (OWN) footwear. We also explored potential relationships between kinematic and physiological changes. Runners (age: 33 ± 12 y, <mml:math xmlns:mml="https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi><mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover></mml:mrow></mml:mrow></mml:math> O2peak : 55...

The aim of this study was to assess acute effects of footwear conditions (barefoot, minimalist and standard running shoes) on running impact loading in the preschool years. Fourty-eight habitually shod preschool children (26 males and 22 females) were divided into four age groups (3-, 4-, 5- and 6-year-old). Children performed a simple running game in three different conditions. Three-dimensional biomechanical analysis was carried out during overground running. Statistical parametric mapping was performed on the vertical ground reaction force profiles during the stance phase and one-way repeated measures ANOVA on the vertical instantaneous loading rate...

Hallux valgus is a foot pathological condition showing a lateral deviation of the first phalange and medial deviation of the first metatarsal. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a longitudinal effect of minimalist footwear running protocol for a mild/moderate hallux valgus patient. The computer tomography (CT) images from a male hallux valgus (HV) patient were respectively scanned pre and post 12-week minimalist footwear running intervention. The pre and post -intervention foot finite element (FE) models were developed from the foot three-dimensional geometries manually segmented via the MIMICS 21...

BACKGROUND: Although footstrike pattern (FP) may not be a factor influencing running performance, 11-75% of world-class distance runners use a non-rearfoot FP. However, little attention has been paid to describe the effect of running volume on FP changes when a runner is fatigued. RESEARCH QUESTION: Does the training volume provide an adequate stimulus to mitigate FP changes during an exhaustive run in non-rearfoot, habitual minimalist footwear runners? METHODS: The objective of this study was to compare FP between non-rearfoot, habitual minimalist footwear runners with a moderate training volume (MT) and a high training volume (HT) during an exhaustive run on a motorized treadmill...

Minimalist shod runners have reported greater material and mechanical properties of the Achilles tendon (AT) due to increased loading than runners who wear more cushioned running shoes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of 12-week transition training from conventional shoes to minimalist shoes on AT loading in habitual rearfoot strike runners. Seventeen healthy male habitual rearfoot strikers completed 12-week transition training. They were instructed either to run in minimalist shoes with a forefoot strike pattern (MIN + FFS, n = 9) or run in minimalist shoes but were free to develop their strike pattern (MIN, n = 8)...

Purpose : To investigate the effects of two different running footwear conditions (transition to minimalist footwear and conventional running footwear) on dynamic postural stability before and after 7 weeks of gait retraining program, and to evaluate the effect of fatigue on dynamic stability. Method : This randomized controlled clinical trial was carried out by 42 recreational male runners, who were randomly divided into two groups; Conventional Footwear Group (CFG) (n = 22) and Minimalist Footwear Group (MFG) (n = 20)...

Currently, solutions based on the Internet of Things (IoT) concept are increasingly being adopted in several fields, namely, industry, agriculture, and home automation. The costs associated with this type of equipment is reasonably small, as IoT devices usually do not have output peripherals to display information about their status (e.g., a screen or a printer), although they may have informative LEDs, which is sometimes insufficient. For most IoT devices, the price of a minimalist display, to output and display the device's running status (i...

This article provides updated information comparing minimalist running shoes (MRS) to conventional running shoes (CRS). Our previous review found that, compared with running in CRS, transitioning to MRS resulted in lower energy cost and less ground contact occurring at the forefoot, resulting in lower impact forces. There was some increased risk of injury with MRS, although data were conflicting. A more recent 26-week study involved 30 trained runners using CRS and 31 using MRS. The proportion of training time in the assigned shoes increased by 5% each week...

Recently, carbon fiber plates, or orthoses, have been incorporated into footwear to improve running performance, presumably through improved energy storage and return. However, few studies have explored the energetic effects these orthoses have on the distal foot, have utilized such orthoses in walking, and none have sought to specifically harness metatarsophalangeal joint deformation to store and return energy to the ankle-foot complex. To address these gaps, we developed and tested a deformable carbon fiber foot orthosis aiming to harness foot energetics and quantify the resulting effects on ankle energetics during walking in healthy adults...

The running footwear literature reports a conceptual disconnect between shoe cushioning and external impact loading: footwear or surfaces with greater cushioning tend to result in greater impact force characteristics during running. Increased impact loading with maximalist footwear may reflect an altered lower-extremity gait strategy to adjust for running in compliant footwear. The authors hypothesized that ankle and knee joint stiffness would change to maintain the effective vertical stiffness, as cushioning changed with minimalist, traditional, and maximalist footwear...

INTRODUCTION: Running skill develops during the preschool age. There is little research evidence as to how footstrike patterns are affected by footwear during this important developmental period. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare footstrike patterns among different age groups of preschool children running in different footwear conditions. METHODS: Three-dimensional kinetics and kinematics were collected while 48 typically developing children age 3 to 6 yr ran overground at self-selected speed in a barefoot condition and in minimalist and standard running shoes...