Shoe companies produce running shoes that feature either reinforced (e.g., maximalist) or diminished (e.g., minimalist) midsole thicknesses, claiming potential benefits for injury prevention and enhanced running performance. Previous research has examined various footwear models available on the market, specifically investigating the effects of different midsole thicknesses. However, no studies have specifically focused on the biomechanical factors associated with carbon plate minimalist shoes. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the effects of midsole thicknesses of 0mm, 6mm, and 8mm on the kinematic and kinetic parameters observed in elite runners, utilizing a standardized test shoe prototype. Method: Thirteen male participants, all habitual rearfoot strikers, were recruited from local social running clubs. A three-dimensional motion capture system (Vicon, Oxford, UK) consisting of ten cameras was employed to collect and analyze running kinematic data at a sampling frequency of 200 Hz. Ground reaction forces were recorded using a Kistler Type 9281 B force plate (Kistler Instrument AG, Winterthur, Switzerland) with a sampling frequency of 1000 Hz. One-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to compare the biomechanical variables using SPSS version 25.0. We observed a significant interaction between heel drop and peak vertical ground reaction force (vGRF), foot strike angle (FSA), and propulsion force. Runners exhibited a reduced FSA when wearing DF6 and DF0 shoes compared to DF8 shoes. However, we did not observe a shift in running strike patterns. The results indicate that shoes with a higher heel drop (DF8) lead to a decrease in peak vGRF, ankle dorsiflexion moment, and knee flexion moment. Furthermore, shoes with a lower drop significantly increased peak propulsion force, ankle plantarflexion, dorsiflexion angle, knee flexion angle, and hip extension angle when compared to thicker shoes (DF8). This study primarily investigates the immediate effects of three different heel-drop running shoes on strike patterns, vertical ground reaction force (vGRF) peak force, joint angles, and joint moments during the running stance phase. The results offer insights into the mechanisms by which newly developed running shoes can enhance elite runners' performance. Furthermore, the statistical parametric mapping (SPM) findings from this study assess the differences throughout the entire stance phase, thereby improving our understanding of how variations in heel height influence running performance.
Wang et al. (Thu,) studied this question.