JOINT STIFFNESS IN OLD AND YOUNG RUNNERS DURING SHOD AND BAREFOOT RUNNING

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between ankle and knee joint stiffness in barefoot and shod running. Fifteen old and 15 young individuals served as participants in this study. Joint kinematics and kinetics were collected while the participants ran overground in two running conditions: barefoot and shod. A quasi-joint stiffness was calculated using the quotient of the change in moment divided by the change in angle for the ankle and knee joints. A two-way ANOVA was conducted to asses ankle and knee joint stiffnesses. There were no interactions and no main effects for the knee joint stiffness. For the ankle joint, there was only a significant difference between conditions. These results indicate that in barefoot running, it is necessary to have a more compliant ankle to maintain the heel from touching the ground