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Walking is essential in daily life, and footwear type significantly affects walking patterns. High-heeled shoes increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis and falls in women. Traditional studies often use treadmills or unfamiliar footwear, which may not reflect daily walking. This study investigated the impact of high-heeled shoes on walking parameters in healthy adult women using in-shoe motion sensors. Seventeen healthy adult women without pain during walking participated. They walked for 6 minutes along a 30-meter corridor wearing high-heeled shoes and sneakers. Walking data were recorded using an in-shoe motion sensor system every 2 minutes. The average of three valid consecutive steps was calculated automatically. Statistical analysis compared the mean walking parameters between the high-heel and sneaker groups. The high-heel group showed significantly reduced foot clearance, stride length, peak plantar angle in dorsiflexion, and peak plantar angle in plantarflexion, and significantly greater toe-out angle in spatial parameters. Spatiotemporal parameters revealed significantly reduced walking speed and maximum swing phase speed in the high-heel group. No significant differences were observed in temporal parameters between the groups. Since this study collected gait data under conditions similar to daily life, it provides data suitable for practical applications and may contribute to future research evaluating everyday gait. Additionally, future studies should include a broader range of participants and incorporate measurement devices capable of capturing hip and knee joint movements, providing a more comprehensive evaluation of the effects of high-heeled shoes on gait in healthy adult women.

Correspondence to Dr Benno M Nigg, Human Performance Laboratory, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2L 1N4, Canada; nigg@ucalgary.ca The effect of shoe mid-sole construction on running performance was discussed with reference to the Nike Vaporfly 4%.1 Drs Burns and Tam described the mid-sole thickness as the major running shoe characteristic that contributes to changes in performance. [...]the results of the leg model (representative of average-level runners) correlated with the results of the field tests. [...]it appears inappropriate to regulate one specific footwear feature before understanding where these performance advantages originated from.7 However, our current knowledge suggests that, compared with the teeter-totter effect, all other shoe characteristic contributions to performance are small and negligible.

With the global increase in women’s participation in running, understanding factors like footwear in performance and injury prevention has become essential. Minimalist shoes (MSs) and traditional shoes (TSs) influence muscle activation patterns, affecting running technique. Proper coordination of the core muscles is essential for efficient stride and posture. This study analyzed muscle activation in nulliparous women running in MSs and TSs at different speeds and explored the correlations with age and BMI. A crossover clinical trial assessed the EMG activation of the lumbar erector (LE), gluteus maximus (GM), pelvic floor, and internal oblique (IO) muscles during treadmill running at 6, 9, and 11 km/h. Fifty-one healthy women (26.55 ± 5.11 years; body mass index (BMI): 21.29 ± 2.07 kg/m2) participated. The protocol included a warm-up, 30 s runs at each speed, and a 5-minute washout between trials. The statistical analyses included Wilcoxon, Friedman, and Spearman’s correlation tests. GM and IO showed the highest activation (p < 0.001) regardless of the footwear or speed. No significant differences were found between MSs and TSs. Weak-to-moderate correlations emerged between BMI and LE muscle activation with MSs, and between BMI and IO with both footwear. Significant correlations were also found with IO activations, but none with PF muscles. The correlations between personal variables, shoe types, and muscle activation suggest that individual and external factors may influence neuromuscular modulation, impacting injury prevention and personalized interventions.

Welcome to Shoe Town - and meet Ruby and Bear Foot. They are running out of time to rescue their inventor dad from his hideous boss, Wendy Wedge. She'll do ANYTHING to win the glitzy Golden Shoe Award and knows that entering flying shoes is her hot ticket to the trophy. Flying shoes that Ruby and Bear just happen to be hiding ...\"--https://shop.scholastic.co.uk.

Physical fatigue and pronated feet constitute two risk factors for running-related lower limb injuries. Accordingly, different running shoe companies designed anti-pronation shoes with medial support to limit over pronation in runners. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness and clinical relevance of anti-pronation shoes. This study examined lower limb kinematics and kinetics in young female runners with pronated feet during running with anti-pronation versus regular (neutral) running shoes in unfatigued and fatigued condition. Twenty-six female runners aged 24.1±5.6 years with pronated feet volunteered to participate in this study. Kinetic (3D Kistler force plate) and kinematic analyses (Vicon motion analysis system) were conducted to record participants' ground reaction forces and joint kinematics when running with anti-pronation compared with neutral running shoes. Physical fatigue was induced through an individualized submaximal running protocol on a motorized treadmill using rate of perceived exertion and heart rate monitoring. The statistical analyses indicated significant main effects of \"footwear\" for peak ankle inversion, peak ankle eversion, and peak hip internal rotation angles (p<0.03; d = 0.46-0.95). Pair-wise comparisons revealed a significantly greater peak ankle inversion angle (p<0.03; d = 0.95; 2.70°) and smaller peak eversion angle (p<0.03; d = 0.46; 2.53°) when running with anti-pronation shoes compared with neutral shoes. For kinetic data, significant main effects of \"footwear\" were found for peak ankle dorsiflexor moment, peak knee extensor moment, peak hip flexor moment, peak hip extensor moment, peak hip abductor moment, and peak hip internal rotator moment (p<0.02; d = 1.00-1.79). For peak positive hip power in sagittal and frontal planes and peak negative hip power in horizontal plane, we observed significant main effects of \"footwear\" (p<0.03; d = 0.92-1.06). Pairwise comparisons revealed that peak positive hip power in sagittal plane (p<0.03; d = 0.98; 2.39 w/kg), peak positive hip power in frontal plane (p = 0.014; d = 1.06; 0.54 w/kg), and peak negative hip power in horizontal plane (p<0.03; d = 0.92; 0.43 w/kg) were greater with anti-pronation shoes. Furthermore, the statistical analyses indicated significant main effects of \"Fatigue\" for peak ankle inversion, peak ankle eversion, and peak knee external rotation angles. Pair-wise comparisons revealed a fatigue-induced decrease in peak ankle inversion angle (p<0.01; d = 1.23; 2.69°) and a fatigue-induced increase in peak knee external rotation angle (p<0.05; d = 0.83; 5.40°). In addition, a fatigue-related increase was found for peak ankle eversion (p<0.01; d = 1.24; 2.67°). For kinetic data, we observed a significant main effect of \"Fatigue\" for knee flexor moment, knee internal rotator moment, and hip extensor moment (p<0.05; d = 0.83-1.01). The statistical analyses indicated significant a main effect of \"Fatigue\" for peak negative ankle power in sagittal plane (p<0.01; d = 1.25). Finally, we could not detect any significant footwear by fatigue interaction effects for all measures of joint kinetics and kinematics. Running in anti-pronation compared with neutral running shoes produced lower peak moments and powers in lower limb joints and better control in rear foot eversion. Physical fatigue increased peak moments and powers in lower limb joints irrespective of the type of footwear.

Shoetopia is the ultimate book on designer shoes, exploring the ever-evolving world of footwear and the creative designers in it. Footwear design continues to be one of the most important and interesting areas of the fashion industry. This stunning book showcases the most exciting and innovative contemporary footwear designers from across the globe, from established, world-recognized brands like Jimmy Choo and Prada to the stars of the future. From traditional skills to extraordinary new developments in the industry, the book features original design sketches and beautiful photography, bringing together a rich array of desirable footwear.

Local dynamic running stability is the ability of a dynamic system to compensate for small perturbations during running. While the immediate effects of footwear on running biomechanics are frequently investigated, no research has studied the long-term effects of barefoot vs. shod running on local dynamic running stability. In this randomized single-blinded controlled trial, young adults novice to barefoot running were randomly allocated to a barefoot or a cushioned footwear running group. Over an 8-week-period, both groups performed a weekly 15-min treadmill running intervention in the allocated condition at 70% of their VO 2 max velocity. During each session, an inertial measurement unit on the tibia recorded kinematic data (angular velocity) which was used to determine the short-time largest Lyapunov exponents as a measure of local dynamic running stability. One hundred running gait cycles at the beginning, middle, and end of each running session were analysed using one mixed linear multilevel random intercept model. Of the 41 included participants (48.8% females), 37 completed the study (drop-out = 9.7%). Participants in the barefoot running group exhibited lower running stability than in the shod running group ( p  = 0.037) with no changes during the intervention period ( p  = 0.997). Within a single session, running stability decreased over the course of the 15-min run ( p  = 0.012) without differences between both groups ( p  = 0.060). Changing from shod to barefoot running reduces running stability not only in the acute phase but also in the longer term. While running stability is a relatively new concept, it enables further insight into the biomechanical influence of footwear.