Effect of shoe midsole hardness and resilience on running performance

摘要

The mass, cushioning and stiffness of running shoes affect energy efficiency during running and increasing that makes it possible to produce faster running speeds or to run with less muscular power(Franz, Wierzbinski, & Kram, 2012). Among them, the cushioning of running shoes makes it possible to use less muscular energies of the leg through allowing to run with less knee flexion when shoes touch down on the ground (Hoogkamer et al., 2018) However, good cushioning results in energy loss as the shoe midsole is compressed. Although it reduces the load on the body, it also results in the use of more muscle energy to create propulsion forces. Recently, the development of shoe technology is attempting to increase resilience of the midsole foam in order to compensate for this disadvantage of shoe midsole cushioning. As a result, cushioning and resilience can be satisfied at the same time, and development of such a midsole foam has the effect of reducing energy cost during running(Worobets, Wannop, Tomaras, & Stefanyshyn, 2014).