Effect of unstable sports footwear on acceleration impacts and plantar surface temperature during walking: a pilot study

Nowadays, new models of sports footwear are available on the market, such as unstable shoes. However, there is still a lack of evidence regarding the changes that this type of footwear can produce on gait biomechanics. Therefore, the aim of this research was to analyze the acute effects of unstable shoes on acceleration impacts, as well as on plantar surface temperature variation. Six athletes (physically active college students, age 28 & PLUSMN;8 years, height 1.73 & PLUSMN;0.05 m, body mass 68.7 & PLUSMN;6.7 kg, shoe size 41 & PLUSMN;1.6 cm) voluntarily participated in the study. Gait characteristics were obtained by means of the Foot Posture Index test. The walking test was performed on a treadmill (10 minutes at 1.44 m/s) under two footwear conditions: stable shoes and unstable shoes. Acceleration impacts (tibia and head), and plantar surface temperature (forefoot, midfoot and rearfoot) were analysed at different moments during the test. The results showed no significant differences between the two types of shoes in the accelerometry variables analyzed at any of the recording times. However, significant differences were found between both shoes (stable=1.40 & DEG;C, unstable=3.10 & DEG;C, p=0.004) in the variation of midfoot plantar temperature at & UDelta;T-Post5 (difference between before the start of the test and 5 minutes after the end of the test). In conclusion, unstable shoes do not seem to produce any additional benefit to traditional shoes for the athlete during walking.