THE INFLUENCE OF SOLE LONGITUDINAL BENDING STIFFNESS ON PUSHOFF BIOMECHANICS IN FULL EFFORT LINEAR ACCELERATION

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS) alterations of running shoes in the initial push-off of the front leg in a linear acceleration task. 14 male sport students were analysed using a full body 3D motion analysis in combination with ground reaction force measurements during the initial step of a full effort 5 m sprint. lncreasing LBS did not lead to a significant increase of normalized average acceleration power, but affected MTP and ankle biomechanics. Push-off time was systematically increased with increased LBS. Average ankle joint moments were reduced, even though average GRF lever arms were increased with higher LBS. Increasing the power generation capacities of ankle plantar flexors combined with LBS increase might be a promising combination to improve acceleration performance.