Welcome to the Podiatry Arena forums

You are currently viewing our podiatry forum as a guest which gives you limited access to view all podiatry discussions and access our other features. By joining our free global community of Podiatrists and other interested foot health care professionals you will have access to post podiatry topics (answer and ask questions), communicate privately with other members, upload content, view attachments, receive a weekly email update of new discussions, access other special features. Registered users do not get displayed the advertisements in posted messages. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our global Podiatry community today!

  1. Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
Have you considered the Clinical Biomechanics Boot Camp Online, for taking it to the next level? See here for more.
Dismiss Notice
Have you liked us on Facebook to get our updates? Please do. Click here for our Facebook page.
Dismiss Notice
Do you get the weekly newsletter that Podiatry Arena sends out to update everybody? If not, click here to organise this.

Running in MBT Shoes

Discussion in 'Biomechanics, Sports and Foot orthoses' started by NewsBot, Sep 13, 2009.

  1. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1

    Members do not see these Ads. Sign Up.
    Changes in running kinematics and kinetics in response to a rockered shoe intervention.
    Boyer KA, Andriacchi TP.
    Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 2009 Sep 8. [Epub ahead of print]
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2015
  2. Admin2

    Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

  3. Craig Payne

    Craig Payne Moderator

    Articles:
    8
    This finding appears not to support the companies claim about the postural effects of these shoes.
     
  4. They do appear to support preferred motion pathway theory.
     
  5. backdoc

    backdoc Welcome New Poster

    My experience and initial evaluation of the MBT shoe as both a training tool and a running shoe are quite promising. However, I do not agree with most of the literature available espousing that MBT shoes create instability. Contrary to that, I believe MBT shoes to enhance overall stability as the rocker bottom sole acts in symphony to engage the postural muscles to stabilize the user's interaction with hard surfaces. This action of maintaining balance does solicit postural muscle activity to a greater degree than the normal flat surface running shoe. Thus hip, knee, foot and ankle stabilizers are all exercised to a greater degree facilitating a fast return from injury and perhaps lessening chances of future injury.

    MBT shoes are self-righting in both a sagittal and coronal planes. In other words, they help to maintain balance from front to back and side to side.

    I intend to write a more complete evaluation of the value of MBT Shoes for Training to Return from injury and as an everyday best running shoe. Look for that in my blog in the near future
     
  6. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Biomechanics of slow running and walking with a rocker shoe
    Sobhan Sobhani, Juha Hijmans, Edwin van den Heuvel, Johannes Zwerver, Rienk Dekker, Klaas Postema
    Gait & Posture; Article in Press
     
  7. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Effect of Rocker Shoes on Plantar Pressure Pattern in Healthy Female Runners
    Sobhan Sobhania,Edwin van den Heuvel, Steef Bredeweg, Bas Kluitenberg, Klaas Postema, Juha Hijmans, Rienk Dekker
    Gait & Posture; Available online 9 December 2013
     
  8. future_pod

    future_pod Member

    Hi all,

    I'm a Podiatry student in Australia and also a part time sales consultant at MBT Footwear. We never advise customers to run in any MBT shoes as they are very likely to fall from the instability of the shoes. The shoes are designed with minor instability so that people can constantly adjust their body hence an improvement in posture, balance and muscle strength in particular in the lower limbs and lower back muscles. MBT shoes are designed for walking and standing but never for running. They are very popular with people in jobs where they are moving a lot such as nurses, child care workers, and people that work in retail. MBT shoes make a huge difference to their feet at the end of the day. If you are running in these shoes I urgently advise you to stop as you will likely to fall one day and hurt yourself.
     
  9. future_pod

    future_pod Member

    MBT is alive and kicking in Australia and Asia where it is extremely popular amongst the elderly.
     
  10. sobhani_sobhan

    sobhani_sobhan Active Member

    Dear sir/madam,
    If you are referring to paper above from our group (Sobhani et al.), we have not used MBT shoes. As far as I know MBT shoes have heel to toe rocker (double rocker). Our shoes had only toe rocker so more stable than double rocker shoes. Nobody complained about instability and nobody fell, neither on treadmill nor overground!
    We are doing more research on this type of shoes for running activities as they might have potentials in the treatment of Achilles tendinopathy.

    All the best
    Sobhan
     
  11. David Wedemeyer

    David Wedemeyer Well-Known Member


    I think you have this backwards, they will cause increased tension in the Achilles and increased Gastrocnemius/Soleus contraction from midstance through toe-off of the gait cycle.

    A lift during treatment would do the opposite for Achilles tendinitis. Much the same for Posterior Tibial Tendinitis, we never use a rocker sole for either.
     
  12. sobhani_sobhan

    sobhani_sobhan Active Member

    Hi,
    Why more tension? Why more contraction of Triceps? Please explain from a biomechanical point of view.
     
  13. future_pod

    future_pod Member

    Hi sobhani_sobhan,

    Exactly what rocker shoe did you use in your study? I'm glad to hear you didn't use MBT shoes. One question, I don't quite understand the difference between a double rocker and a single rocker shoe. MBT shoes have a soft sensor around the heel to arch area to trigger the rocking motion. The degree of rocking depends on the design of the shoe and how curved the sole is. MBT shoes have 4 levels of rocking (instability).
     
  14. efuller

    efuller MVP

    David, I don's see how it would increase tension in the Achilles. The resistance to ankle plantar flexion is related to the lever arm of ground reaction force. A shoe with an anterior rocker will shorten the lever arm of ground reaction force at the ankle joint.
    Eric
     
  15. David Wedemeyer

    David Wedemeyer Well-Known Member

    Eric the main concern is an increase in ankle dorsiflexion in early stance, I should have stated that in my prior post. Is the Achilles under tension in strike and during midstance and push off?

    Your thoughts Eric?
     
  16. efuller

    efuller MVP

    Just because the ankle is more dorsiflexed it does not mean that there is more tension in the Achilles tendon. The muscles have to contract to produce tension in the tendon as long as the muscle is in the middle of its possible positions. At heel strike, the ankle will tend to plantar flex in response to ground reaction force being posterior to the ankle joint. No active contraction is required at that time to get the motion that is seen. If fact if the Achilles were to contract you could get a pretty severe foot slap. Usually, the Ant tib is active at this point trying to slow foot slap.

    After forefoot loading you usually see a gradual anterior progression of the center of pressure line in most gait. This is caused by gradually increasing tension in the Achilles tendon whitch is initially from muscle contraction.


    The MBT has a very cushioned heel that will compress at heel contact. This compression, will shift the center of pressure anteriorly which will reduce the plantar flexion moment, from the ground applied to the foot, that will normally be occurring. If there is a lower plantar flexion moment then the plantar flexion will be slower (assuming ant tib is acting the same) and this explains the increased dorsiflexion angles seen in stance.

    The resistance to ankle plantar flexion is dependent upon the lever arm of ground reaction force to cause a dorsiflexion moment. (Think: try to plantar flex your ankle in swim fins). The rocker tip shortens the lever arm of ground reaction force. So, a smaller plantar flexion moment from the Achilles tendon will produce ankle joint plantar flexion. Ankle power = moment x angular velocity. The reduction in moment is probably what is responsible for the reduction in power. So, the study is saying that you don't get as much "propulsion" with the rocker shoe.

    Eric
     
  17. sobhani_sobhan

    sobhani_sobhan Active Member

    Dear future_pod (I wish you had a real name)
    We have made our own rocker shoes by modifiying a standard shoes with a rocker profile (with apex poitioned proximal to the MTP region). It is called proximally placed rocker. I am not familiar with all levels of rocking as you stated. However, the majority of MBT shoes that I have seen, have a heel-toe round sole meaning a rocker at the heel region and one at the forefoot. Our rocker shoe did not have a rounded heel so more stable than shoes with a double rocker.

    You can search my name in resaerchgate to see the publication(s).
    Cheers
     
  18. sobhani_sobhan

    sobhani_sobhan Active Member

    Absolutely right, and we have explained this mechanism in our study in detail (Biomechanics of slow running and walking with a rocker shoe, Gait&Posture, 2013). The main finding was a significant reduction in plantar flexion moment (peak and impusle) during terminal stance, meaning less tesnion on the Achilles tendon. I don`t understand how a rocker shoe could increase the tension on the Achilles tendon.
     
  19. sobhani_sobhan

    sobhani_sobhan Active Member

    Maybe it is better to change the title of this thread to "running with rocker bottom shoes" to avoid confucion for the readers
     
  20. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Efect of unstable shoes on lower extremity joint power during stance
    phase of runin
    g
    Amin Gandomkar, Mansour Eslami, Mazandaran, Mazandaran, Seyed Esmaeil Hoseini nejad, Vahid Jahedi
    1393 مهر ،124 شماره ،21 دوره رازي پزشکی مجلهعلوم
     
  21. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Rocker shoes reduce Achilles tendon load in running and walking in patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy
    Sobhan Sobhani, Johannes Zwerver, Edwin van den Heuvel, Klaas Postema, Rienk Dekker, Juha M. Hijmans
    JSMS March 2015Volume 18, Issue 2, Pages 133–138
     
  22. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Prolonged Running Using Bionic Footwear Influences Lower
    Limb Biomechanics

    Xinyan Jiang et al
    Healthcare 2021, 9, 236.
     
  23. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
  24. NewsBot

    NewsBot The Admin that posts the news.

    Articles:
    1
    Differences in the center of pressure movement during standing with running shoes of different constructions: A cross-sectional study
    Yasuhiro Endo, Masashi Miura
    Journal of Orthopaedics; Volume 45, November 2023, Pages 43-47
     
Loading...

Share This Page