Effect of midsole hardness and surface type cushioning on landing impact in heel-strike runners

Zihan Yang; Chuyi Cui; Zhipeng Zhou; Zhiyi Zheng; Songhua Yan; Hui Liu; Feng Qu; Kuan Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111996

Effect of midsole hardness and surface type cushioning on landing impact in heel-strike runners

J Biomech. 2024 Mar:165:111996. doi: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111996. Epub 2024 Feb 15.

Authors

Zihan Yang¹, Chuyi Cui², Zhipeng Zhou³, Zhiyi Zheng⁴, Songhua Yan⁵, Hui Liu⁶, Feng Qu⁶, Kuan Zhang⁷

Affiliations

¹ Fashion Accessory Art and Engineering College, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Beijing, China; School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Biomechanics Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
³ College of Sports and Health, Shandong Sport University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
⁴ Anta (China) Co., Ltd. Anta Sports Science Laboratory, Xiamen, Fujian, China.
⁵ School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
⁶ Biomechanics Laboratory, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, China.
⁷ School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Electronic address: kzhang@ccmu.edu.cn.

PMID: 38377740
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2024.111996

Abstract

High loading impact associated with heel strikes causes running injuries. This study aimed to investigate how loading impact is affected by midsole hardness and running surface type. Twelve young rear-foot runners ran at a fixed speed along an 18 m runway wearing shoes with different midsole hardness (Asker C-45, C-50, C-55, C-60, from soft to hard) and on two different surfaces (rubber and concrete). We quantified vertical average loading rate (VALR) and vertical impact peak force (VIPF). We conducted midsole × surface repeated-measures ANOVA on loading impact measures, and one-sample t-tests to compare VALR with a threshold value (80 BW·s^-1). Midsole hardness and surface type mainly affected VALR. Although no significant effect of these variables was observed for VIPF magnitude, there were effects on time to VIPF and steps with VIPF. Several combinations of midsole and surface hardness reduced VALR below 80 BW·s^-1: Asker C-45 with both surfaces, and Asker C-50 with a rubber surface. The combination of softer midsole and surface effectively reduced loading rates as shown by increased time to VIPF and reduced VALR. Combining softer midsole and surface results in the greatest cushioning, which demonstrates the benefit of considering both factors in reducing running injuries.

Keywords: Ground reaction force; Midsole hardness; Overground running; Running injury; Running surface.

MeSH terms

Biomechanical Phenomena
Foot*
Hardness
Rubber*
Shoes

Substances

Rubber