Relation between the injuries of runner, his biomechanics and type of employed footwear: Pilot study

Identifier:  TFG:1817

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG1817

Authors:  Sánchez Sánchez, Sara

Abstract:
Introduction: in the last few years, it has emerged a new trend on the races: the minimalism, which is characterized basically for the elimination of the cushioning and stability systems of the footwear. On one side, it is thought that the minimalist footwear can cause injuries on the runners such as plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinitis or tibial stress fractures and metatarsals bones fractures. On the other side, it is believed that this footwear can be beneficial because it causes a less damaging biomechanics because it increases the cadence and it changes the strike patron on the runners. Objectives: it is suggested to design a specific race analysis protocol in order to determinate the biomechanical variations when using or not footwear, apply that protocol and verify if as well as removing the footwear, it is necessary an adaption to start running barefooted. Material and methods: the biomechanics of 3 runners was analyzed with a protocol designed specifically to study different variables, such as the cadence of the step, the way of support of the foot with the ground, the tibial verticality, and the knees and ankles degrees. Results: when the footwear is removed, it is observed a decrease in the inclination degree of the foot on the first support, which brings us to change the attacked pattern from the hind foot to the mid foot, decreasing this way, the strength of the impact in all the individuals. Discussion: running without footwear without an appropriate adaptation can increase the risk of causing injuries. On the contrary, after the application of a specific evaluation protocol for the biomechanics of the runner and a progressive intervention, it is observed a race style more productive and less damaging.