Motors and Dampers: The Energetic Tradeoffs in the Shod Foot With Increasing Walking Velocity
Date
2025-11-11
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Foot and Ankle Research
Abstract
Background
The dual influences of velocity and footwear on ankle-foot energetics are particularly relevant for clinical populations who rely on footwear during ambulation. Although walking velocity influences energetic demands of foot structures, footwear may modify these relationships by restricting joint motion. This study aimed to characterize ankle-foot energetics while participants walked at a wide range of velocities while wearing supportive shoes.
Methods
Eighteen healthy participants walked at four height-normalized velocities (0.4–1.0 statures/second) in supportive footwear while kinematic and kinetic data were collected. Ankle, midtarsal, and metatarsophalangeal (MTP) work was quantified and compared using repeated-measures ANOVAs with Holm pairwise tests.
Results
MTP positive and negative work increased with shod walking velocity, though negative work increased substantially more than positive work. Midtarsal positive work also increased while maintaining minimal negative work across all velocities. Ankle positive work significantly increased with velocity accompanied by small but significant increases in negative work.
Conclusions
At all velocities, the MTP joint functioned as a mechanical damper and its damping characteristics became more pronounced as velocity increased. The midtarsal joint functioned as a strut, with a small motor role which became more prominent as velocity increased. The ankle had mixed roles, primarily between strut and spring, with a small damper/motor role that traded off with velocity (less damper more motor as velocity increased). The presence of supportive footwear attenuated positive and negative work across velocities when compared to previous barefoot studies, with the largest difference in the midtarsal's negative work, suggesting footwear substantially modifies natural foot mechanics through increasing velocities.
Description
This article was originally published in Journal of Foot and Ankle Research. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/jfa2.70101
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.© 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Foot and Ankle Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Podiatry Association and The Royal College of Podiatry.
Keywords
gait speed, joint work, mechanical damper, midtarsal joint, shod gait
Citation
Henderson, Adrienne, Dustin Bruening, and Elisa Arch. 2025. “ Motors and Dampers: The Energetic Tradeoffs in the Shod Foot With Increasing Walking Velocity,” Journal of Foot and Ankle Research: e70101. https://doi.org/10.1002/jfa2.70101