Human Motion Diagnostic Center, Department of Human Movement Studies, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 70200, Czech Republic.
Human Motion Diagnostic Center, Department of Human Movement Studies, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 70200, Czech Republic; Department of Kinesiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA.
Gait Posture. 2024 Sep;113:258-264. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2024.07.003. Epub 2024 Jul 3.
Minimalistic footwear provides adequate toe space, tripod function, improving foot function, muscle activation and stability during walking similarly to barefoot walking. Due to the increasing popularity of this specific footwear, there is a lack of research focusing on general users of minimalistic footwear.
Does annual walking in minimalistic footwear affect gait biomechanics?
Cross-sectional study involving twenty participants in a minimalistic footwear group with both experience (MFE) and no experience (NMFE). Participants walked in three different conditions (barefoot, minimalistic, and neutral footwear) in the laboratory at normal human walking speed.
A significant main effect of groups regardless of footwear conditions show significantly greater values during walking in minimalistic footwear and barefoot in the stride length (p=0.035, p=0.003, respectively), and stride width (p=0.047, p=0.028, respectively) in the NMFE group compared to MFE group. The significant differences in the main effects of footwear regardless of experience were found in stance time (p<0.001), steps per minute (p<0.001), stride length (<0.001), foot adduction in TO (p<0.001), foot eversion angle in IC and TO (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively), foot progression angle (p<0.001), ankle dorsiflexion angle in IC and TO (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively), in ankle eversion angle in IC and TO (p<0.001, p<0.001, respectively), knee flexion angle in IC and TO (p<0.001; p<0.001, respectively), and in knee flexion range of motion (p<0.001).
Based on our findings, barefoot walking should be used primarily during daily activities if the environment is conducive. Only one year of experience with minimalistic footwear seems insufficient and an intervention should be incorporated to change the gait pattern when transitioning to full minimalistic footwear walking.
极简鞋为脚趾提供了足够的空间，具有三脚架功能，可以改善行走时的足部功能、肌肉激活和稳定性，与赤脚行走相似。由于这种特定鞋类的日益普及，缺乏针对极简鞋一般使用者的研究。
每年穿着极简鞋行走是否会影响步态生物力学？
横断面研究涉及一个有经验（MFE）和无经验（NMFE）的极简鞋组的 20 名参与者。参与者以正常人类行走速度在实验室中分别以赤脚、极简鞋和中性鞋三种不同条件行走。
无论穿着哪种鞋，组间都存在显著的主要影响，NMFE 组在穿着极简鞋和赤脚行走时，步长（p=0.035，p=0.003）和步宽（p=0.047，p=0.028）显著增大。无论经验如何，鞋类的主要影响存在显著差异，表现为站立时间（p<0.001）、每分钟步数（p<0.001）、步长（p<0.001）、TO 足内收（p<0.001）、IC 和 TO 内翻角度（p<0.001，p<0.001）、足推进角度（p<0.001）、IC 和 TO 踝关节背屈角度（p<0.001，p<0.001）、IC 和 TO 踝关节外翻角度（p<0.001，p<0.001）、IC 和 TO 膝关节屈曲角度（p<0.001；p<0.001）和膝关节屈曲运动范围（p<0.001）。
根据我们的发现，如果环境允许，日常活动中应主要赤脚行走。仅仅一年的极简鞋经验似乎是不够的，当过渡到全极简鞋行走时，应该进行干预以改变步态模式。
