Impact reduction through long-term intervention in recreational runners: midfoot strike pattern versus low-drop/low-heel height footwear

Impact reduction has become a factor of interest in the prevention of running-related injuries such as stress fractures. Currently, the midfoot strike pattern (MFS) is thought as a potential way to decrease impact. The purpose was to test the effects of two long-term interventions aiming to reduce i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of applied physiology 2013-08, Vol.113 (8), p.2077-2090
Main Authors: Giandolini, Marlène, Horvais, Nicolas, Farges, Yohann, Samozino, Pierre, Morin, Jean-Benoît
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Athletic Injuries - prevention & control
Biomechanical Phenomena
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Exercise physiology
Female
Foot Orthoses
Fractures
Human Physiology
Humans
Injuries
Life Sciences
Male
Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine
Original Article
Protective Devices
Running
Running - injuries
Running - physiology
Shoes & boots
Shoes - classification
Sports Equipment
Sports Medicine
Young Adult
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Summary:Impact reduction has become a factor of interest in the prevention of running-related injuries such as stress fractures. Currently, the midfoot strike pattern (MFS) is thought as a potential way to decrease impact. The purpose was to test the effects of two long-term interventions aiming to reduce impact during running via a transition to an MFS: a foot strike retraining versus a low-drop/low-heel height footwear. Thirty rearfoot strikers were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (SHOES and TRAIN). SHOES progressively wore low-drop/low-heel height shoes and TRAIN progressively adopted an MFS, over a 3-month period with three 30-min running sessions per week. Measurement sessions (pre-training, 1, 2 and 3 months) were performed during which subjects were equipped with three accelerometers on the shin, heel and metatarsals, and ran for 15 min on an instrumented treadmill. Synchronized acceleration and vertical ground reaction force signals were recorded. Peak heel acceleration was significantly lower as compared to pre-training for SHOES (−33.5 ± 12.8 % at 2 months and −25.3 ± 18.8 % at 3 months, p  
ISSN:1439-6319
1439-6327
DOI:10.1007/s00421-013-2634-7