The role of military footwear and workload on ground reaction forces during a simulated lateral ankle sprain mechanism.

BACKGROUND

Ankle sprains are a common orthopedic injury in military populations, which may be attributed to occupational demands and footwear. Minimalist military boots have become popular, but their influence on ground reaction force (GRF) attenuation capabilities during an ankle inversion perturbation are unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine potential differences in GRFs during an ankle inversion perturbation in a standard issue (STN) and minimalist military boot (MIN) before and after a simulated military workload.

METHODS

Twenty-one healthy adult males completed an ankle inversion perturbation protocol in each footwear condition before and after an incremental treadmill exercise protocol to volitional exhaustion while wearing a 16kg rucksack. The ankle inversion perturbation protocol consisted of stepping down from a 27cm box onto a force platform with a fulcrum (FUL), which created 25° of inversion upon landing, or flat (FLT) outer sole attached to the plantar aspect of the participants' footwear in random order. Peak vertical, anterior/posterior, and medial/lateral components of the GRF during FUL and FLT conditions were assessed, normalized to multiples of body weight in each footwear. Dependent variables were then analyzed using separate 2 (footwear)×2 (time) repeated measures ANOVA (p<0.05).

RESULTS

The MIN footwear demonstrated significantly greater vertical GRF and significantly less medial GRF during the FUL condition.

CONCLUSIONS

These results indicate that various mechanical and design characteristics of military footwear may influence GRF attenuation capabilities and ankle joint loading when the foot/ankle complex is forced into inversion.