Measurement of intrinsic foot stiffness in minimally and traditionally shod runners using ultrasound elastography: A pilot study

Influence of Minimalist Footwear in Middle and Long Distance Runners' Physical Fitness, Biomechanics, and Injury Incidence: A Systematic Review

“…Interestingly, Bell et al (2) showed opposite results. Specifically, in this study, it was observed that the stiffness of the flexor hallucis brevis was higher in the group using traditional footwear, indicating a greater risk of injury with MF.…”

“…The search was conducted throughout the full text. The search strategy combined terms covering the topics of (1) population, (2) intervention or shoes-related variables, and (3) words related to expected outcomes. The keywords were connected with “and” to combine the 3 groups and using “or” to link the words of each group: population —“Running,” “runner,” “run”; intervention —“Minimalist”, “conventional footwear,” “footwear condition*,” “running shoes,” “athletic footwear,” “court shoes,” “barefoot”; and outcomes —“performance,” “injury”, “injuries”, “load*,” “Achilles tendon load*,” “biomechanic*,” “heel strike,” “foot strike,” “impact peak*,” “footstrike pattern*.”…”

Contemporary Review: The Foot and Ankle in Long-Distance Running

“…It has also been proposed that barefoot running strengthens the intrinsic foot muscles and may decrease injury rates. To examine this concept, Bell et al 11 used ultrasonography to indirectly measure the strength of the intrinsic muscles in experienced barefoot and traditionally shod runners. They found no difference between runners, which implies that barefoot running alone does not necessarily increase intrinsic strength.…”

“…They found no difference between runners, which implies that barefoot running alone does not necessarily increase intrinsic strength. 11 …”

“…They found no difference between runners, which implies that barefoot running alone does not necessarily increase intrinsic strength. 11 Two other intrinsic strengthening exercises include the toe piano exercise and resisted toe flexion exercises (Figure 1). These exercises are also thought to strengthen and provide neuromuscular recruitment of the intrinsic muscles to stabilize the metatarsophalangeal and proximal interphalangeal joints with toe motion as opposed to the SFE, which has more effect on arch stabilization.…”