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Adding Stiffness to the Foot Modulates Soleus Force-Velocity Behaviour during Human Walking.
Kota Z. Takahashi, Michael T. Gross, Herman van Werkhoven, Stephen J. Piazza & Gregory S. Sawicki
Sci Rep. 2016 Jul 15;6:29870. doi: 10.1038/srep29870.

 

Aloha,

I hope someone gives these folks an award for this great research.

This is exactly what we should be doing in our labs right now.

I will admit that making a custom carbon insoles to fit existing foam shoes with incorporated toe spring last modifications (they bend the toes up on the end of the shoes) is one reason they do not achieve positive energy return with metabolic testing.

"Adding Stiffness to the Foot with Shoes and Insoles
To increase bending stiffness of the foot/shoe complex, we designed carbon fibre insoles with three different thicknesses: 0.8, 1.6, and 3.2 mm. These custom insoles were designed to fit within a standardized shoe (New Balance 1400), with sizes ranging from female 37 (Euro) to male 46, or length of 23.5 to 29.4 cm. The custom insoles replicated the shape of the shoe?s original insoles such that the custom insoles could be placed underneath the shoe insoles while walking."

How about using these maximalistic systems in shoes without foam midsoles, like in wrestling shoes?

Question: How can a hard flat carbon plate be made soft by using a pencil?
Answer: Use the pencil as a lever under the plate.

More research like this please...

A hui hou,
Steve

Trolling for Tomorrow's Technologists

 

Ankle and midtarsal joint quasi-stiffness during walking with added mass.
Kern AM et al
PeerJ. 2019 Sep 19;7:e7487. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7487. eCollection 2019.