Shock Acceleration and Attenuation during Running with Minimalist and Maximalist Shoes: A Time- and Frequency-Domain Analysis of Tibial Acceleration

Tibial shock attenuation is part of the mechanism that maintains human body stabilization during running. It is crucial to understand how shock characteristics transfer from the distal to proximal joint in the lower limb. This study aims to investigate the shock acceleration and attenuation among maximalist shoes (MAXs), minimalist shoes (MINs), and conventional running shoes (CONs) in time and frequency domains. Time-domain parameters included time to peak acceleration and peak resultant acceleration, and frequency-domain parameters contained lower (3-8 Hz) and higher (9-20 Hz) frequency power spectral density (PSD) and shock attenuation. Compared with CON and MAX conditions, MINs significantly increased the peak impact acceleration of the distal tibia (p = 0.01 and p < 0.01). Shock attenuation in the lower frequency depicted no difference but was greater in the MAXs in the higher frequency compared with the MIN condition (p < 0.01). MINs did not affect the tibial shock in both time and frequency domains at the proximal tibia. These findings may provide tibial shock information for choosing running shoes and preventing tibial stress injuries.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of maximalist shoes, minimalist shoes, and conventional running shoes on tibial shock attenuation using time and frequency domain parameters. The results showed that minimalist shoes had greater impact acceleration at the distal tibia, while no significant effects were observed at the proximal tibia. These findings are important for shoe selection and prevention of tibial stress injuries.