Effects of Shoe Longitudinal Bending Stiffness (FAT-FLEX)

Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne

Status

Completed

Conditions

Runners

Treatments

Other: running flexible shoes

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04895501

2021-A00726-35 (Other Identifier)

21CH034

Details and patient eligibility

About

Carbon plates inserted in competitive running shoes have been increasingly used in the past 2-3 years and several investigations have shown that these plates increase the longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS) of the shoe. It leads to a redistribution of muscle work and to a modification of the force generation conditions, which may reduce the energy cost of running (Cr) and improve performance.

Full description

Only one study has investigated the effects of LBS in running bouts longer than 8 minutes but on the biomechanics part, and their effects on neuromuscular fatigue and prolonged running performance. The aim of this study is to compare shoes with and without carbon plates during a prolonged (21 km) running exercise on Cr, plantar flexor neuromuscular fatigue and running kinetics and kinematics to estimate the changes high-LBS may induce on fatigue and subsequent performance.

Enrollment

21 patients

Sex

Male

Ages

18 to 50 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

aged ≥ 18 and ≤ 50 years.
men
experienced, well-trained endurance runners with the capacity to run 21km in less than 1h 40 and who train more than 5h a week.
free from muscular, bone or joint injuries
free from neurologic disease
approval received from a physician

Exclusion criteria

currently participating in a structured exercise program
injury in the 3 months prior to the protocol
chronic joint pathologies (e.g.: repetitive sprains, patellar or ligament problems)
the intake of corticosteroids within 3 months (inhalation, infiltration or history of prolonged corticosteroid therapy).