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BOOK REVIEW
BIOMECHANICS OF RUNNING SHOES
Benno M. Nigg (Ed.), Human Kinetics Publishers,
Champaign, IL, 1986, 180 pp., $24.95
This unique monograph will be useful to a limited number of
persons, although it is disappointing. The various chapters
form a compilation of research efforts conducted over the last
decade by a group of investigators affiliated with two
institutions well-known for their sports biomechanics. This
group has been premier among those conducting research
specifically on running shoes.
As the editor notes, there are two principal reasons for
conducting such research: to improve performance and to
reduce the fnzquency of injuries. The major disappointment,
then, is that little of the book substantively addresses these
two critical issues. Furthermore, the reader is not presented a
comprehensive strategy by which one might determine
whether a particular sort of shoe accomplished either goal.
This major deficiency prevents the book from being the
valuable, as well as unique, reference it might have been. The
problem is perhaps reflected in the imprecision with which the
goal of the book was formulated: ‘Thirteen years have passed
since the beginning of this project, and so it seems appropri-
ate to present our group’s most appropriate findings. .’ .
The book has been addressed to ‘those connected with
research in running shoes’. ‘those involved in the production
or distribution of running shoes’, ‘those who use running
shoes and want to know what shoe to buy and why’: a broad
audience to reach in one small volume.
The second major disappointment is that the book heavily
emphasizes the ‘mechanics’ at the expense of the ‘biology’. In
this sense, calling it a monograph of’biomechanics’ is almost
a misnomer. Most of the work addresses the sometimes
excellently presented mechanics of the running shoes/sur-
faces without addressing the critical biological responses of
the runner, particularly those which occur over time and
would likely affect either performance or injury. Knowing
how the shoe interfaces with the running surface, for
example, is certainly important, but it is also important to
know how the shoe interfaces with the runner.
Nonetheless, certain portions of the book will be of value
to certain individuals. The first chapter ‘Biomechanical
Aspects of Running’ summarizes and provides references on
the incidence of running injuries. For the person not familiar
with many of the concepts of mechanics, the importance of
loading rates is discussed.
The second chapter, ‘Experimental Techniques Used in
Running Shoe Research’, provides a nice summary of a
number of techniques used by this group of researchers to
study running shoes. This will prove to be quite readable for
those individuals, including lay persons, not familiar with
such experimental techniques. However, this chapter does
not review the numerous other techniques needed to address
the two critical issues about running shoes. For example.
there is no mention of methods to study foot-shoe contact
pressures; there is no mention of appropriate methods needed
to determine whether or not a particular shoe actually
reduces injury rates. A conceptual approach (best described
as reductionist) to the study of injuries is presented at the end
of the chapter which might be useful for identifying certain
characteristics of shoes producing certain sorts of injury
pattrms. How this approach could be used to identify a ‘best’
shoe (whether for a given runner or a group of runners) is not
clear.
The third chapter, ‘Load on the Locomotor system and
Modelling’, is the centerpiece of the monograph, and the
longest chapter. The major thrust of this chapter is to
describe the methods used to estimate forces and moments
acting on and in the lower extremity and the material
properties of shoes, running surfaces, and the skeletal
elements. These methods are central to future studies which
might contribute to better understanding of the mechanical
relationship between the shoe and the runner. In the words of
the writer: ‘At this time, such models are not in use in running
shoe research’. No clear approaches are outlined in which
such models could be used, and while such approaches might
be obvious to the experienced researcher, neither the ag
proaches nor their limitations would be obvious to those
unfamiliar with such techniques. Furthermore, this material
may prove to be dificult for the layperson, although most
students of biomechanics will find it to be fairly straightfor-
ward. For the most part, the modelling approaches have been
well and accurately described. However, there are a few
places in which the wording is either awkward or in which it
could lead to misconceptions. For example, in the section
entitled ‘The solution has to fulfil additional constraints’,
there appears to be confusion between a ‘constraint’ and a
cost function. This confusion is of more than semantic
importance since in the optimization literature, each of these
terms has quite specific and different meanings. In fact, a
solution need not fulfil additional ‘constraints’ as is stated,
although it must fulfil ‘conditions’ which, as presented, are
clearly cost functions, rather than constraints.
The fourth chapter, ‘Special Aspects of Shoe Construction
and Foot Anatomy’, provides the reader with an intriguing
but brief history of shoe construction and the basic ter-
minology to describe the relevant parts of the shoe. Those not
familiar with various foot conditions will find the de&p-
tions of foot postures and deformities helpful.
The fifth chapter outlines studies of three major factors
thought to influence running injuries: impact forces, pro-
nation, and supination. These studies are descriptive in
nature, demonstrating the ranges of measures of these three
factors. Studies relating these factors to performance or
injury are not included.
The final chapter concludes with comments on the factors
useful in purchasing running shoes. Runners should find this
chapter to be useful, although many of the recommendations
are empirical, arising from a person experienced in
running and the coaching of running, rather than the sort
based on ‘hard’ science.
In summary, this unique volume will find limited
use. Whtle the topic is timely, the book fails to meet its
implicit promise. It will be of greatest use to young re-
searchers looking for a usable central source in the study of
running shoes. It will be of less use to established sports
researchers owing to its parochial nature, and of less use to
others in biomechanics because of its lack of comprehensive-
ness and failure to address the major questions about running
shoes.
Richard A. Brand
Unioersiry of Iowa