I often enjoy playing the provocateur and can frequently make statements to have that effect. They are not done to be mischevious but are typically done to encourage critical self-reflection, mostly in the context questioning one’s own clinical practice and reflecting on improving that. There is always a context and a purpose. Often those comments […]
Archive | Foot Biomechanics
Relfections from the ISB Footwear Biomechanics Meeting
Recently the Footwear Biomechanics Group of the International Society of Biomechanics had its conference on the Gold Coast in Australia. I did my best to live post things as it happened but did get a bit bogged down. I did a previous post on some of the gems from the same meeting in Liverpool in […]
‘Overpronation’ … the quack is strong in this one …
…so is the Dunning-Kruger effect. I have written before on some of the nonsensical stuff that gets written on ‘overpronation’, but most of that is limited to the crankosphere blogosphere, and forums where you can just make stuff up and wish it was true and not provide any citations or evidence to back up the wishful […]
Footwear and Flatfeet: Correlation or Causation?
One of the arguments that often get advanced for a barefoot lifestyle is that shoes cause flat feet as they weaken the muscles. Not sure how people make that conclusion as there is no evidence that footwear wearing populations have feet that is any weaker than barefoot wearing populations – you would have thought that […]
The influence of running speed on ankle and knee joint moments
I have long suggested that the number one biomechanical risk factors for an overuse running injury and determinate of running economy is joint moments. That is generally affected by variations in joint axes positions. The loads in the tissues and how hard a muscle has to work is determined by the joint moments. Different ways […]
The effect of forefoot varus on the hip and knee and the effect of the hip and knee on forefoot supinatus …
…. say what? This study, that I will get to eventually, gives me the opportunity to address an issue I have been wanting to get to for a while, so the appearance of the research was timely. The issues surrounding forefoot varus and forefoot supinatus, even just not only on the terminology, but the diagnosis […]
The effects of shoes and barefoot on postural stability
I have no doubt about the importance of plantar sensory input has on normal gait, balance and postural stability; having spent many years looking at the impacts of diabetes and what the sensory neuropathy does to gait and balance. What I do have doubts about, and will address this in greater detail in a future […]
The importance of joint moments in running injury risk and running economy
Back from a holiday and was planning on getting in back into the routine of posting and was planning on writing something totally different today and then the study below turned up. It was not a study on runners and was not on running (it was on walking), so my title for this post is […]
Foot arch height and muscle strength
This study that just turned up in my alerts and caught my eye. It was not on runners, but on children. I was not going to write about it for that reason, but all day it has been gnawing at me to write about it as it has direct relevance to some previous posts: The […]
The Influence of Arch Type on Injury in Minimally-Shod Runners
We have known for some time that there are different running injury risk profiles for different foot types, often depending on how you choose to classify them. Now this new study is suggesting that different foot types may have different injury risk profiles between traditional shod running and minimalist shod running: The Influence of Arch […]
‘Overpronation’ and running injury risk
‘Overpronation’ still continues to be misused and misunderstood all the way from the medical literature to the fan boys in the crankosphere blogosphere. For example, there was this study that got a lot of recent mileage in the mainstream media and the blogosphere that claimed to show that foot pronation was not associated with injury risk. It […]
The concept of ‘core stability’ of the foot
The concept of spinal ‘core stability’ is given a lot of prominence in the media, by coaches and by therapists and is allegedly an important concept for prevention of running injury, low back pain and postural related issues. It has gained widespread acceptance. Despite this, the definitive evidence supporting the concept is lacking; anecdotally a […]
Rearfoot and Midfoot/Forefoot Impacts in Habitually Shod Runners
When comparing the biomechanics of different foot strike patterns, these reseachers set out to answer the somewhat ambiguous question of whether the biomechanical differences are due to changes in footwear, foot strike, or a combination of the two: Rearfoot and Midfoot/Forefoot Impacts in Habitually Shod Runners Boyer, Elizabeth R.; Rooney, Brandon D.; Derrick, Timothy R. Medicine […]
Another look at the performance claims by the Airia One running shoe; a theoretical context
A few days ago I wrote about the launch of a new “biomechanically perfect” running shoe, the Airia One that made claims re enhancing performance. I won’t relitigate the issues raised previously, as you can read them here. The post engendered quite a response on Twitter, Facebook and in the blogosphere. One little dig that […]
Effect of fatigue on navicular drop – my ‘Nobel Ig Prize’ for Biomechanics Research
I have previosuly done two posts (here and here) on the issue of fatigue and in one wrote: The reason that the issue is important is that most biomechanical studies and clinical assessments are done when runners are fresh and not fatigued. When they are fresh, they may not display what are assumed to be […]