US researchers at JKM Technologies in Charlottesville, Virginia say that wearing trainers might actually cause rather than alleviate strain on joints.

The Press Association reports that a team led by Dr Casey Kerrigan investigated the jogging habits of 68 regular joggers, who were young and healthy and included 37 females. Each ran at least 15 miles every week and had no history of musculoskeletal injuries.

The researchers gave the runners training shoes of a ‘typical’ design and observed them running on a treadmill while wearing the trainers and then barefoot.

They found that wearing trainers while running increased the rotational stresses on the hip joints by more than 50 per cent (54 per cent) and different stresses to the knee area increased by 36 per cent and 38 per cent. The increase in stress was attributed to the raised heels and padded arch of the trainers.

Dr Kerrigan said:

‘Considering that lower extremity joint loading is of a significantly greater magnitude during running than is experienced during walking, the current findings indeed represent substantial biomechanical changes.’

Dr Kerrigan added that new designs in running shoes should aim to mimic the actions of barefoot running as much as possible, while providing footwear with functionality that was fit for purpose.

The research is published in the journal ‘PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation’.

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