Assessment of The Effects of Appropriate Footwear on The Comfort of Movement

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of footwear-induced arch support on subjective "comfort" during running and its biomechanical factors. In experiment 1, arch deformation was measured using a stretch strain sensor in 30 healthy adults. The results showed that the condition with greater arch support exhibited significantly higher visual analog scale （VAS） scores for perceived comfort compared to the non-support condition. In experiment 2, 20 healthy adults participated to examine the biomechanical factors related to subjective comfort. Participants rated footwear conditions as either “comfort” （perceived as light） or “non-comfort” （not perceived as light） . Biomechanical parameters, including dynamic joint stiffness （DJS）， co-contraction index （CCI） of tibialis anterior and lateral gastrocnemius, and jerk （an indicator of smoothness）， were measured during running. The results demonstrated that the comfort condition showed significantly lower DJS, CCI, and jerk compared to the non-comfort condition. These findings suggest that footwear providing appropriate arch support may contribute to an increased sense of comfort during running by suppressing excessive joint stiffness and muscle co-contraction, and by promoting smoother joint movements.