Barefoot running and hip kinematics: good news for the knee?

Purpose: Patellofemoral pain and iliotibial band syndromes are common running injuries. Excessive hip adduction (HADD), hip internal rotation (HIR), and contralateral pelvic drop (CLPD) during running have been suggested as causes of injury in female runners. This study compared these kinematic variables during barefoot and shod running.

Acute differences in foot strike and spatiotemporal variables for shod, barefoot or minimalist male runners.

This study compared stride length, stride frequency, contact time, flight time and foot-strike patterns (FSP) when running barefoot, and in minimalist and conventional running shoes. Habitually shod male athletes (n = 14; age 25 ± 6 yr; competitive running experience 8 ± 3 yr) completed a randomised order of 6 by 4-min treadmill runs at velocities (V1 and V2) equivalent to 70 and 85% of best 5-km race time, in the three conditions. Synchronous recording of 3-D joint kinematics and ground reaction force data examined spatiotemporal variables and FSP.

Body Segment Inertial Parameters of elite swimmers Using DXA and indirect Methods.

As accurate body segment inertial parameters (BSIPs) are difficult to obtain in motion analysis, this study computed individual BSIPs from DXA scan images. Therefore, by co-registering areal density data with DXA grayscale image, the relationship between pixel color gradient and the mass within the pixel area could be established. Thus, one can calculate BSIPs, including segment mass, center of mass (COM) and moment of inertia about the sagittal axis (Ixx).

12 weeks of simulated barefoot running changes foot-strike patterns in female runners.

To investigate the effect of a transition program of simulated barefoot running (SBR) on running kinematics and foot-strike patterns, female recreational athletes (n=9, age 29 ± 3 yrs) without SBR experience gradually increased running distance in Vibram FiveFingers SBR footwear over 12 weeks. Matched controls (n=10, age 30 ± 4 yrs) continued running in standard footwear. A 3-D motion analysis of treadmill running at 12 km/h(-1) was performed by both groups, barefoot and shod, pre- and post-intervention.

Comparison of ground reaction force asymmetry in one- and two-legged countermovement jumps.

This study examined whether ground reaction force (GRF) asymmetry of 2-legged countermovement jumps (CMJ) is related to 1-legged CMJ asymmetry. The GRF asymmetry of a 2-legged CMJ has been suggested as a preferred test to the 1-legged CMJ for functional strength and power deficit assessment. Twenty-eight men and 30 women performed 5 trials each of a 1-legged CMJ with the right limband the left limb, and a 2-legged CMJ.