• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2019

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of midsole hardness of running shoe on muscle fatigue and impact force during distance running. Method: Ten healthy college recreational runners who were performing distance running at least three times a week participated in this experiment. They were asked to run for 15 minutes in the treadmill at 10 km/h with running shoes having three different types of midsole hardness (Soft, Medium, Hard). EMG signal and insole pressure were collected during the first and last one minute for each running trials. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures. Results: Midsole hardness did not affect the consistency of stride length. For the median frequency of the EMG signal, only VL was affected by midsole hardness; that of medium was greater than other midsoles (p<.05). The loading rate of impact forces increased by midsole hardness (p<.01). Conclusion: Although soft midsole could attenuate impact forces at heel contact, it might have a negative effect on the fatigue of muscle which could decelerate the body after heel contact. Therefore, it is necessary to select the optimum hardness of midsole carefully for both reduction impact forces and muscle fatigue.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2010

During running, the human body experiences repeated impact force between the foot and the ground. The impact force is highly associated with injury of the lower extremity, comfort and running performance. Therefore, shoemakers have developed shoes with various midsole properties to prevent the injury of lower extremity, improve the comfort and enhance the running performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate influence of midsole hardness on shock absorption along the human body during running. Thirty two expert runners consented to participate in the study and ran at a constant speed with three different pairs of shoes with soft, medium and hard midsole respectively. Using accelerometers we measured the shock absorption from shoe heel to cervical vertebral column. In conclusion, at the shoe heel, shock was the greatest with the hard midsole. However because most shock was absorbed between shoe heel and the knee, notable influence of midsole was not detected upper knee. At shoe heel, regardless of midsole hardness, the shock of younger female was the greatest. The authors expect to apply this result for providing a guideline for utilizing proper midsole hardness for manufacturing age and gender-specific shoe.

• Proceedings of the Society of Korea Industrial and System Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.291-296
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• 2002

The midsole hardness of athletic footwear affects capability of absorbing impact shock and controls rearfoot movement during running and walking. The prior studies were focused on examining the proper hardness of footwear for rearfoot movement or to finding effective hardness for absorbing impact shock. The displacements of maximal Achilles tendon angle described a amount of pronation motion is decreased when medial hardness of midsole is large more than lateral. Increasing hardness of footwear midsole are effected to reduce maximum and intial pronation angle, but declined the ability of impact shock during heelstrike. For determination of effectiveness hardness of midsole, therefore, the study that makes a compromise between rearfoot movement and absorbing impact during footstrike must be performed. The purpose of this study is to examine quantitative values of rearfoot control and absorbing impact shock with different hardness of medial and lateral midsole on heel portion. The results are useful to define biomechanical hardness of midsole for developing running shoes. As variable for impact shock, accelerations onto shank and knee are measured during 4 running speeds (5, 7, 9, 11km/h). Also, maximum and $10\%$ pronation angle (Achilles tendon angle) were measured using high-speed camera.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.125-130
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• 2006

To understand the effect of midsole on the bending stiffness of footwear, bending moment is studied with various hardness and thickness of polyurethane(PU) and poly(ethyl one-co-vinylacetate)(EVA) foams which composed in footwear midsole. The initial bending moment of footwear was appeared at $19^{\circ}$ on bending angle of footwear, and this bending angle was not depend on thickness and hardness of midsole. The bending moments of footwear were also increased with increase of the hardness and thickness of misole which were composed in footwear. Increased hardness and increased thickness of foam and midsole also cause a greater bending moment of the sports shoe, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.379-386
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• 2009

During running, the human body experiences repeated impact force between the foot and the ground. The impact force is highly associated with injury of the lower extremity, comfort and running performance. Therefore, shoemakers have developed shoes with various midsole properties to prevent the injury of lower extremity, improve the comfort and enhance the running performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of midsole hardness on vertical ground force and heel strike angle during men's and women's running. Five male and five female expert runners consented to participate in the study and ran at a constant speed with three different pairs of shoes with soft, medium and hard midsole respectively. In conclusion, regardless of gender, there was ill significant difference among three shoes in maximum vertical ground reaction force, impact force peak and stance time. However, the loading time decreased and the loading rate increased as the midsole became harder. Female subjects showed more sensitive reaction with respect to the midsole hardness, while male subjects showed subtle difference. The authors expect to apply this results for providing a guideline for utilizing proper midsole hardness of gender-specific shoe.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2001

Rearfoot control can be defined as the relative ability of a shoe to limit the amount of subtalar joint pronation immediately following footstrike. A normal amount of pronation provides a means of decreasing peak forces experienced by the leg, but excessive pronation of the foot can be arised its injures. The purpose of this study is to compare amount of pronation according to a difference between medial and later hardness of shoe midsole for better design of running shops. The experiment is examined for 7 running shoes. 8 males. to measure the Achilles tendon angle and rearfoot angle using high speed camera. The results is conducted that the changes of Achilles tendon angle significantly differ at each test shoe with increased running speed. And, a difference between medial and lateral hardness of midsole affects rearfoot motion of runner. The displacements of maximal Achilles tendon angle described a amount of pronation motion is decreased when medial hardness of midsole is large more than lateral.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1078-1084
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• 2011

In design of sport footwear, bending stiffness of its toe part is an important factor though it can be hardly measured. This paper introduces a device for measuring the bending stiffness. The device is simply designed with aluminum frames, one AC motor, two load-cells, one encoder and control hardwares. The mechanism measuring the bending moment of a shoe is described. Then, it was used to observe how the midsole material and design of a sports shoe affect on its bending stiffness. For the experiments, various specimens prepared, where each midsole of the specimens is different in terms of material, thickness and hardness. With those specimens, experiments were performed by using the device and then the bending stiffness was computed by applying the least square curve fitting after the bending moment data were measured. The specimen with Poly-urethane(PU) midsole has the higher bending stiffness than the one with Phylon(PH) midsole, and the midsole thickness affects more on the bending stiffness than the midsole hardness. Based on those results, it can be concluded that the measurement device can provide consistent bending stiffness data to sports footwear and the bending stiffness of a footwear measured by the developed device can be used as a major parameter in the footwear design.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.285-291
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• 2020

Objective: Shoes midsole are crucial for reducing impact forces on the lower extremity when someone is running. Previous studies report that the cushioning of running shoes make it possible to use less muscular energies. However, the well cushioned shoes result in energy loss as the shoe midsole is compressed. Cushioning reduces the load on the body, it also results in the use of more muscle energy to create propulsion force. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the difference of shoe hardness & resilience on the running. Method: Shoes midsole are crucial for reducing impact forces on the lower extremity when someone is running. Previous studies report that the cushioning of running shoes make it possible to use less muscular energies. However, the well cushioned shoes result in energy loss as the shoe midsole is compressed. Cushioning reduces the load on the body, it also results in the use of more muscle energy to create propulsion force. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the difference of shoe hardness & resilience on the running. Results: In vastus lateralis muscle Activation, Type 55 were significantly higher for Type 50 and X (p=0.019, p=0.045). In Gluteus Maximus muscle activation, Type 55 was significantly lower for type 50 (p=0.005). In loading late, Type 55 and X were significantly higher for type 45 (p=0.008, p=0.006). Conclusion: The components of a shoe are very complex, and there can be many differences in manufacturing as well. Although some differences can be found in the biomechanical variables of the high elastic midsole, it is difficult to interpret the performance enhancement and injury prevention.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.85-103
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• 2004

This study was conducted to determine what effects would the midsole hardness of running shoes have on shoe flex angle and maximum propulsive force. Furthermore, the relationship between the shoes flex angle and maximum propulsive force was elucidated in order to provide basic data for developing running shoes to improve sports performances and prevent injuries. The subjects employed in the study were 10 college students majoring in physical education who did not have lower limbs injuries for the last one year and whose running pattern was rearfoot strike pattern of normal foot. The shoes used in this study had 3different hardness, shore A 40(soft), 50(medium) and 60(hard). The subjects were asked to run at a speed of $4{\pm}0.08m/sec$, and their movements were videotaped with 2 S-VHS video-cameras and measured with a force platform. And the following results were obtained after analyzing and comparing the variables. 1. Although the minimum angle of shoes flex angle was estimated to appear at SFA4, it appeared at SFA2 except in those shoes with the hardness of 40. 2. The minimum angle of shoes flex angle was $145.1^{\circ}$ with barefoot. Among the shoes with different hardness, it was the smallest when the hardness was 50 at $149.9^{\circ}$. The time to the minimum angle was 70.7% of the total ground contact time. 3. Maximum propulsive force according to midsole hardness was the largest when the hardness was 50 at $1913.9{\pm}184.3N$. There was a low correlation between maximum propulsive force and shoes flex angle.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.153-168
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• 2005

The purposes of this study were to determine the influence of midsole hardness and sole thickness of sports shoes on ball flex angle and position with increment of running velocity. The subjects employed for this study were 10 college students who did not have lower extremity injuries for the last one year and whose running pattern was rearfoot striker of normal foot. The shoes used in this study had 3 different midsole hardness of shore A 40, shore A 50, shore A 60 and 3 different sole thickness of 17cm, 19cm, 21cm. The subjects were asked to run at 3 different speed of 2.0m/sec, 3.5m/sec, 5.0m/sec and their motions were videotaped with 4 S-VHS video cameras and 2 high speed video cameras and simultaneously measured with a force platform. The following results were obtained after analysing and comparing the variables. Minimum angle of each ball flex position were increased with the increment of running velocity and shoe sole thickness(P<0.05), but mid-sole hardness did not affect minimum ball flex angle. The position which minimum angle was shown as smallest was 'D'. Midsole hardness and sole thickness did not affect time to each ball flex minimum angle, total angular displacement of ball flex angle, and total angular displacement of torsion angle(P<0.05). The position which minimum angle was appeared to be earliest was similar at walking velocity, and E and F of midfoot region at running velocity. Total angular displacement of ball flex position tended to increase as shifted to heel. It was found that running velocity had effects on ball flex angle variables, but shoe sole thickness partially affected. It would be considered that running velocity made differences between analysis variables at walking and running when designing shoes. Also, it was regarded that shoes would be developed at separated region, because ball flex angle and position was shown to be different at toe and heel region. It is necessary that midsole hardness and thickness required to functional shoes be analyzed in the further study.