Relationship between Running Speed and Initial Foot Contact Patterns

Abstract

The IFCP distribution changes were due to intraindividual alterations in IFCP at higher speeds. That is, 45% of the runners made one or even two "transitions" toward a more anterior IFCP (and 3% shows some other type of transition between initial foot contact styles as speed increases). However, 52% of the runners remained with the same IFCP.

Redistribution of Mechanical Work at the Knee and Ankle Joints During Fast Running in Minimalist Shoes

“…14 These average speeds were faster than the running speeds used in most studies of minimalist shoes, [4][5][6][7]12,13 and at speeds greater than 15 km/ h, runners are more likely to run with a midfoot or forefoot foot strike, irrespective of the shoes worn. 15 Therefore, minimalist shoes may have reduced effects on running gait at faster speeds. In addition, potential injury in minimalist shoes could be greater when running at faster speeds due to the larger forces involved.…”

Kinematic differences between (a)typical initial rearfoot and midfoot contact patterns

“…Such intermediate foot placement could be classified as an IMFC (Altman et al 2012). But as shown in Breine et al (2014), their VILR is much higher compared to an IMFC. This can be hypothesized to relate to some distal kinematical differences at touchdown and the following impact phase.…”

“…For statistical analysis all kinematic and kinetic parameters of the three recorded trials were averaged per subject. Each subject was categorized into the matching IFCP group according to the method described by Breine et al (2014). The IMFC and IFFC were taken together into one IFCP group.…”

“…Based on the first contact with the ground, IFCPs can be categorized as initial rearfoot (IRFC), midfoot (IMFC) or forefoot (IFFC) contact. In shod distance running approximately 75% of runners show an IRFC, 20% an IMFC and 5% an IFFC (Breine et al 2014, Hasegawa et al 2007). The IFCP is related to the initial foot position, but also to the foot unroll kinematics (Pohl et al 2008).…”

“…The IFCP is related to the initial foot position, but also to the foot unroll kinematics (Pohl et al 2008). In a recent study (Breine et al 2014) we have found that of the registered IRFC contacts, 44% showed atypical center of pressure (COP) patterns. Although these contacts showed an initial COP at the rear 1/3 of the foot (IRFC), they were named atypical IRFC (aIRFC) because the first contact is followed by an initial fast anterior COP displacement at the lateral shoe margin towards the midfoot zone with an early first metatarsal contact after which the COP moves medially into the midfoot zone, similar to IMFC.…”