Abstract
The high incidence of foot and lower leg injury in adult walkers and runners and its relationship with footwear is a problem that has been investigated exhaustively (Barnes & Smith, 1994; Herzog, 2012; Knapik et al., 2014; Tancred, 1996).Traditionally, measures such as stride length, step length, step width, stride time and step time, as well as kinematic (joint angles) and kinetic (forces) measures have been used to quantify gait (Chang et al., 2006, Diop et al., 2005, Diop et al., 2004, Samson et al., 2009). These measures are important, but may not reveal the mechanism, or mechanisms affecting gait. Many studies evaluate the linear variability (mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, or root mean square) of gait. However, these measures fail to acknowledge the inherent dynamics or structure, that nonlinear variability calculations like Sample Entropy (SE) can elucidate. The importance of nonlinear variability to quantify the stride-to-stride fluctuations during gait is paramount. The effect of running in footwear compared to running barefoot at varying speeds on the nonlinear variability of running gait is unknown. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of funning in footwear and barefoot on nonlinear gait variability. METHODS: For our study, twenty individuals (n = 20, Age = 21 ± 1.1 years, Height = 68.2 ± 3.5 in., Weight = 150.25 ± 24.7 lbs.), performed a series of 6 trials in randomized order while wearing shoes and barefoot. The trials included running at their self-selected running speed and +/- 20% speed while barefoot and while wearing shoes. Subjects ran for three minutes for each of the six conditions. A 2x3 Repeated Measures ANOVA was used to determine the effect of footwear and running speed on the nonlinear variability of the joint angle time series. Post-hoc tests were used to determine where any specific differences exist. RESULTS: There was a main effect for speed (F(1,19) = 31.943, p < .001), with an observed power of 1.0, but not for footwear (p > .05), nor was there any interaction. Post hoc comparisons of the speed conditions determined there were bilateral differences at the ankle, knee, and hip SE between the slow speed and both, the normal and fast speeds for the (p < .05). There were no differences between the normal and fast speeds. CONCLUSION: Running at slower speeds consistently resulted in greater joint angle SE compared to the normal and fast speeds. The slower speeds created a disruption to the normal movement patterns of the runners across all joints, while there was little difference between the normal and fast speed conditions. It’s common for athletes and recreational runners to run at slower speeds for exercise or training. The long-term consequences of slower speed running remain unknown.
Recommended Citation
Luna, Kaleb; Henicke, Becca; and Applequist, Bryon C.
(2025)
"The Effect of Footwear and Speed on Nonlinear Variability of Runners,"
International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2:
Iss.
17, Article 193.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss17/193
Included in
Health and Physical Education Commons, Medical Education Commons, Sports Sciences Commons
