Kinematic and kinetic characteristics of Masai Barefoot Technology footwear

Differences in Kinetics and Coordination between Walking Barefoot and Walking in Rocker Bottom Shoes

“…The smaller range of motion in ankle flexion under RBS condition observed in the current study might be caused by the stiffness of RBS. The range of motion observed under RBS condition in the current study (19.4˚ ± 4.8) was in agreement with the range of motion observed in RBS walking in previous studies (Buchecker et al, 2012;Landry et al, 2012;Taniguchi et al, 2012). Furthermore, the landing on the hind-foot in RBS walking, and the larger braking force could explain an earlier transition from deceleration to acceleration force in RBS, required in preparation for the swing phase.…”

“…Also, the biomechanics of walking in RBS has been extensively compared to walking in conventional sport (athletic) shoes (Nigg et al, 2006;Landry et al, 2010;Stöggl et al, 2010;Stöggl and Müller, 2012;Taniguchi et al, 2012). The rationale for the development of the MBT shoe was that the shoe simulated walking BF on unstable terrain, since the human body is not created to walk on flat and hard surfaces (Stewart et al, 2007;Stöggl et al, 2010;Stöggl and Müller, 2012;Taniguchi et al, 2012).…”

“…Therefore, the present investigation was aimed to identify differences between RBS and BF walking. Traditional gait analyses have focused on parameters such as range, average, maximum and minimum amplitude of kinematic and kinetic variables (e.g., maximum joint angles, maximum and minimum impact forces, joint forces, joint moments, loading rate and power) (De Wit et al, 2000;Hunt et al, 2001a;Hunt et al, 2001b;Stöggl and Müller, 2012;Taniguchi et al, 2012), and one study focused on the timing of these variables (De Wit et al, 2000). However, the timing of these parameters is essential to accurately describe stress on the body during gait.…”

Influence of unstable footwear on lower leg muscle activity, volume change and subjective discomfort during prolonged standing

“…Several scientific studies have investigated the impact of unstable footwear (shoe with a rocker sole) on biomechanical objective measures during walking so far. These studies support the general concept that unstable footwear have positive effects on gait kinematic, kinetic, and muscular activity (Demura and Demura, 2012;Hutchins et al, 2009;Nigg et al, 2012Nigg et al, , 2006Romkes et al, 2006;Sobhani et al, 2013;Stewart et al, 2007;Taniguchi et al, 2012). With regard to standing, previous studies in the laboratory settings commonly evaluated the effects of unstable footwear on subjective and objective measures, including perceived instability, center of pressure (CoP) excursion, plantar pressure distribution, muscular activity, and physiological responses during maximum of 1-min standing in first use of unstable shoe (shoe with a rounded sole design in the anterioreposterior direction) (Buchecker et al, 2012;Plom et al, 2014;Stewart et al, 2007) or in before and after accommodation periods (use the unstable shoe for 2e10 weeks) (Nigg et al, 2006;Sousa et al, 2012;Landry et al, 2010).…”

Rollover footwear affects lower limb biomechanics during walking

“…To date, however, the literature has generally focussed on how separate aspects of gait are affected e.g. kinematics and kinetics [1][2][3][4], or plantar pressure [5,6], or EMG [7,8], or energy cost [9,10], but not how changes in one data might relate to changes in other data. Thus, it is not clear what kinematic or EMG changes occurred when changes in metabolic cost of walking were observed [9,10].…”