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This may be of interest to some, which I 1st heard of through the ABC Science Report

Unfortunately only an abstract of the article is available free

but an earlier article published in Nature in 2006 is available in full text PDF here with lots of maths equations to keep Kevin happy

 

Stephen:

Yes, this article did make my morning read at breakfast enjoyable. This is really not new research; R. McNeil Alexander has done this type of work years before, and much better written, in my opinion. It is a good review article for those who are not familiar with basic walking and running biomechanics gait optimization theory and "forward dynamics simulations". One of the PhD biomechanists at Penn State that I am working with on subtalar joint axis location, Steve Piazza, wrote a review article on forward dynamics simulations for those of you who aren't afraid to learn what is currently happening in the real world of biomemechanics (and aren't afraid of a little math).;)

 

Thanks Stephen. Interesting findings.

Applicable to many recent arguments on this list! ;-)

Bruce Williams

 

It is somewhat paradoxical that, on the one hand we consider that the idealised gait is the one that minimises work and on the other hand, the proponents of the instability footwear that increases work is also considered by them to be a good thing .... don't figure :confused:

(ie see: MBT rocker sole footwear, for hallux limitus? ; MBT's; MBT'S - Are they suitable footwear from a health and safety point of view for nurses; Replace orthoses with Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) shoes?; Masai Barfuss Technology shoes; Shoe Claims to Reduce Cellulite; MBTs and windlass mechanism )

 

It's called creative marketing.....sad but true!

 

The other thing that don't figure is that these people always seem to make more money than you or I :confused: :confused: :confused: :empathy:

 

I have also seen the claims about the increased work required wearing the MBT (and apparent benefits), but have not actually seen the study which showed this (but i know it is from a well respected researcher).
Perhaps someone better informed than myself can tell me whether the weight of the shoes was taken into consideration... they are not light! I think you could also increase oxygen consumption by strapping a couple of cans of soup to your ankle.

 

Now the latest craze here it Fitflops. These miracle thongs will "make your bum smaller and your legs leaner". Apparently they cause a longer stimulation of gluteus maximus and rectus femoris which leads to an improved gait and toned legs. Cancel your gym membership - all you need to do for toned legs is wear these thongs. They did a story on them on a current affairs program last week. The next day I was in a shoe store and these things were flying out the door at $90 a pair.

 

Adding weights to running shoes does increase oxygen consumption rate during steady state running (Catlin MJ, Dressendorfer RH: Effect of shoe weight on the energy cost of running. Medicine and Science in Sports. 11: 80, 1979). This effect is probably not related to energy savings during the stance phase of gait but rather is likely due to the increased moment of inertia of the leg during swing phase that results from adding mass to the shoe of the runner.