Joint contact forces during barefoot, minimal and conventional shod running are highly individual.

The supposed benefits of barefoot running are an often debated topic, with many studies investigating footwear influences on the kinematics and kinetics of running. Few studies, however, have analysed the effect on joint contact forces (JCFs). In this study, we investigated the influence of different footwear on the JCFs of the hip, knee, and ankle during running using a 3D musculoskeletal model.

Comparison of two coupling methods regarding coupling patterns, sensitivity to footwear and potential future injury applications.

Researchers have quantified the effect of footwear conditions on movement patterns and injury risk for runners using discrete kinematic variables and/or relative coupling variables. Coupling is typically assessed using the transfer coefficient (TC) or the vector coding (VC) approach. However, a thorough comparison of both methods regarding their interpretation, sensitivity to testing conditions and information regarding coupling strength as one overall coupling score is missing.