1. Landing
Accommodation to
Minimalist Footwear
By: Katie Leino, Adam Johnson, Camille Hobson,
Daniel Wolf
Introduction: Minimalist footwear is a current
trend that has many purported benefits and
advantages to running. These claims arise from
the idea that this type of footwear is designed
to mimic barefoot running by featuring low
cushion and negligible arch support.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to
investigate whether the footwear could be
helpful in areas other than running.
Methods:
-Four participants (2 male; 2 female).
-Box platform (36.5cm high).
-Two footwear conditions (C1-self selected
athletic footwear/ C2-minimalist footwear).
-Two cameras set up in the sagittal plane were
used to capture knee angles at intial contact
and maximum flexion.
-Force data from AMTI force platform converted
to body-weights.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P1C1
P1C1T1
P1C1T2
P1C1T3
P1C1T10
P1C1T11
P1C1T12
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P1C2
P1C2T1
P1C2T2
P1C2T3
P1C2T9
P1C2T10
P1C2T11
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
0 0.025 0.05 0.075 0.1 0.125 0.15 0.175
Force(body-weights)
Time(msec)
P2C1
P2C101
P2C102
P2C103
P2C109
P2C110
P2C111
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
0 0.025 0.05 0.075 0.1 0.125 0.15 0.175
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P3C1
P3C1T1
P3C1T2
P3C1T3
P3C1T10
P3C1T11
P3C1T12
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P3C2
P3C2T1
P3C2T2
P3C2T3
P3C2T10
P3C2T11
P3C2T12
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P4C1
P4C1T1
P4C1T2
P4C1T3
P4C1T9
P4C1T10
P4C1T11
Table 2.
Knee angle
Measurement
Paremeters
pValue
(P1)
pValue
(P2)
pValue
(P3)
pValue
(P4)
Initial 0 0 0.03 0.23
Max flexion 0.06 0.11 0.87 0.01
ROM 0.02 0.04 0.11 0.05
(Paired T-Test, comparing all variables within subject,
Standard Shoe to Minmalist Shoe)
Table 1.
Avg. Force
C1
Avg. Force (BW)
C2
Avg. Force
(BW)
P1 1.40 1.33
P2 1.73 1.34
P3 2.36 2.07
P4 1.63 1.57
Total Avg. 1.78 1.58
Std. Dev. 0.53 0.44
P-value 0.01
Discussion: On average, the minimalist footwear
condition caused participants to exert less force
upon landing than the self-selected footwear
condition. A T-test was conducted on the
condition averages and found a significant
difference between footwear conditions. Another
T-test was done for the range of motion between
conditions and was also found to be significant
for three out of four participants. This
information allows us to draw conclusions that
the shoes change the movement strategies of
users and could possibly yield benefits in areas
other than running. The low stack height and zero
drop heel features of the Carson minimalist shoe
simulate barefoot landing. The difference noticed
in force output for participant 3 may be due to
the asymmetrical nature of their landing. This
observation was noted during kinematic analysis
of knee angles during landing.
Results: Landing data was gathered related to force
output and can be seen in Figures 1-8. Each participant
performed twelve repetitions of each condition. The first
and last three repetitions were plotted for each
participant. For participant 1 the average from the self-
selected footwear (C1) over all trials had an initial
average of 1.4 body weights (BW), and 1.33 BW for the
minimalist condition (C2). Participant 2 had an average
of 1.73 BW for C1, and 1.34 BW for C2. Participant 3
showed an average of 2.36 BW for C1 and 2.07 BW for
C2. Participant 4 showed an average of 1.63 BW for C1
and 1.57 BW for C2. Averages can be seen in Table 1.
Knee angles were gathered via video analysis, put into a
table to compare different conditions per participant,
and t-tested; p-values can be seen in Table 2.
Figure 1. Figure 2.
Figure 3. Figure 4.
Figure 5. Figure 6.
Figure 7. Figure 8.
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P4C2
P4C2T1
P4C2T2
P4C2T3
P4C2T10
P4C2T11
P4C2T12
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
1 26 51 76 101 126 151 176
Force(body-weights)
Time (msec)
P2C2
P2C2T1
P2C2T2
P2C2T3
P2C2T10
P2C2T11
P2C2T12