Sheng-Wei Jia

This study investigates the biomechanical effects of different midsole support plates on joint kinematics during basketball-specific movements, such as vertical jumping, [ ] cutting, and [ ] cutting. The primary objective was to evaluate how midsole stiffness influences the kinematics of the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint, ankle joint, and knee joint, all of which play critical roles in athletic performance and injury prevention. Results indicated that midsole stiffness, particularly with carbon fiber plates, significantly altered the kinematics of the MTP and ankle joints, reducing excessive dorsiflexion and inversion/eversion, thus enhancing foot stability and potentially reducing injury risks, such as metatarsal stress fractures and lateral ankle sprains. While no significant effects were observed in knee joint kinematics, subtle indirect influences were noted. The findings underscore the importance of footwear modifications in optimizing performance and reducing injury risk, and suggest that further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of stiff-soled footwear and its implications on muscle activation and joint loading patterns.

The quadricep muscles are commonly targeted for electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), while the gastrocnemius muscles, despite their crucial role in push-off, are often overlooked. The purpose was to investigate whether incorporating EMS into gastrocnemius training could optimize athletic performance. Two groups of athletes received regular gastrocnemius training (Training-only) or combined EMS into training (Training + EMS) over four weeks. The sprint time, jump height, take-off ground reaction forces, ankle and knee joint power, and electromyography were assessed before and after the training sessions. Two-way ANOVA with repeated measures was performed to determine any significant effect. Both training-only and training + EMS groups showed increased jump height and faster sprint time after training ([ ]). The participants in the two groups also generated higher take-off force and larger ankle and knee powers after training ([ ]). EMS adds no significant improvement in performance outcomes ([ ]). This study implicates that both training-only and training + EMS can enhance sports performance and take-off force and lower-limb joint powers of the athletes, but the use of EMS can only induce minimal added improvements on gastrocnemius training.

The objective was to investigate the effects of running shoes with midsole hollow structure span and height on the biomechanics of the lower limbs during running. We collected 21 adults with running habits who wore two pairs of running shoes with different midsole hollow structures and ran at a speed of 3.3[ ]m/s on a force-measuring treadmill. The lower limb kinematics, ground reaction force (GRF) and lower limb muscle activation characteristics were simultaneously captured by a motion capture system, a 3D force treadmill, and a surface electromyography (sEMG) system. Paired t-tests were performed on data for the two shoe conditions that fit the normal distribution assumptions; otherwise, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used. The statistical parameter mapping (SPM) technology was used for the analysis of 1D parameters of kinematic, dynamic, and sEMG activation characteristics. The result showed that the time to the peak impact force at touchdown of Hollow shoe2 was significantly increased ([ ]), the maximum loading rate ([ ]) and average loading rate ([ ]) were significantly reduced, braking time ([ ]), push time ([ ]), contact time ([ ]) of Hollow shoe2 were significantly increased compared with Hollow shoe1. Hollow shoe2 push phase of the tibialis anterior muscle activation characteristics was significantly lower (SPM, [ ]) than Hollow shoe1. Our conclusion is that running shoes offer the solution as they have the advantage of the complex structure of the hollow midsole.

There are concerns about the risk of injuries caused by marathons in China. Since male and female runners have different injury risks, gender differences in running shoe functionality should be further complemented. A supervised questionnaire survey of 626 marathon runners was collected. The questionnaire was categorized into four sections: (1) participant profile, (2) importance of shoe properties, (3) functional evaluation of shoe properties and (4) importance ranking of shoe properties. The Mann–Whitney U test, Fisher’s exact test of cross tabulation and Chi-square test, and two-way ANOVA were used to analyze the results of this survey. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. The full marathon participants were older than the half marathon participants. There was no gender difference in the importance of shoe features to elite runners. In addition, women are more concerned about upper elasticity and have higher requirements for running shoes than men. Women were more focused on injury prevention, while men were more focused on running performance. Heel cushioning was identified by all participants as the most important running shoe feature. There were no gender differences between elite players’ demand for running shoes, but significant gender differences were found between genders at other running levels.

(1) Background: The aim of the present study was to examine the characteristics of over 70,000 long-distance finishers over the last four years in Chinese half- and full-marathon events; (2) Methods: The available data of all finishers (n = 73,485; women, n = 17,134; men, n = 56,351) who performed half- and full-marathon events in Hangzhou from 2016 to 2019 were further analyzed for the characteristics of gender, age and average running speed; (3) Results: The total men-to-women ratio was the lowest in the half-marathon event (1.86) and the highest in the full-marathon event (17.42). Faster running performance in males than in females and faster average running speed in short-distance runners were shown. Gender and race distance were observed to have the most significant effects on average running speed (p < 0.01). For both male and female finishers, the slowest running speed was shown in older age groups (p < 0.01) during the full marathon. Our results indicated that the gender difference in performance was attenuated in the longer race distances and older age groups; (4) Conclusions: Understanding the participation and performances across different running distances would provide insights into physiological and biomechanical characteristics for training protocols and sports gear development in different groups.

Objective. This study examined the influence of shoe bending stiffness on lower extremity energetics in the take-off phase of consecutive jump. Methods. Fifteen basketball and volleyball players wearing control shoes and stiff shoes performed consecutive jumps. Joint angle, angular velocity, moments, power, jump height, take-off velocity, take-off time, and peak vertical ground reaction force data were simultaneously captured by motion capture system and force platform. Paired -tests were performed on data for the two shoe conditions that fit the normal distribution assumptions, otherwise Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Results. There are significant differences ( ) in take-off velocity and take-off time between stiff and control shoe conditions; the stiff shoes had faster take-off velocity and shorter take-off time than control shoes. There was no significant difference between two conditions in jump height ( ) and peak vertical ground reaction force ( ). The stiff shoes had significantly lower MTP dorsiflexion angle and greater joint work than the control shoes ( ). The MTP range of motion and maximum angular velocity in stiff shoe condition were significantly lower than those in control shoe condition ( ). However, there are no significant differences between two conditions in kinetics and kinematics of the ankle, knee, and hip joint. Conclusions. The findings suggest that wearing stiff shoes can reduce the effect of participation of the MTP joint at work and optimize the energy structure of lower-limb movement during consecutive jumps.