Introduction: Carbon plates have been used to increase running shoes' longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS), but their effect during a long duration run remains unknown. Our study aimed to identify the effect of LBS on energy cost of running (Cr), biomechanics, and fatigue during a half-marathon.Methods: Thirteen well-trained male runners (half-marathon time < 1 h40) performed two half-marathons at 95% of the running speed associated with their second ventilatory threshold on two separate visits, with either high-LBS shoes (HLBS, with carbon-plates) or standard-LBS (SLBS) shoes. Before and after the half-marathon, Cr at 12 km/h with both shoes (two 6-min bouts: Cr12) and ankle plantarflexors (PF) force were measured. During the half-marathon, running kinematics, shoe perceived comfort, and Cr were assessed.Results: During Cr12 measurements before and after the half-marathon, HLBS was 1.0 ± 2.1% more economical than SLBS (p < 0.001). During the half-marathon, Cr increased with running duration (p = 0.048) but there was no distance × condition effect. HLBS increased contact time (+3%, p = 0.01), decreased metatarsophalangeal joint dorsiflexion (-9%, p = 0.01), and was perceived less comfortable than SLBS, independently from running duration. At the end of the half-marathon, HLBS shoes led to higher PF force loss (-20.0 ± 9.8% vs -13.3 ± 11.0%, p = 0.048).Conclusions: Adding curved carbon plates in the running shoes slightly improved Cr during short running bouts at low intensity but not during a half-marathon. This discrepancy may be explained by day-to-day Cr variability and variation in shoe comfort. PF fatigue was higher with HLBS shoes but the accentuated fatigue did not further impact the biomechanical perturbations induced by the plates. Our results suggest that carbon plates alone do not provide a significant advantage for half-marathon performance.

中文翻译：

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跑步机半程马拉松期间鞋类纵向弯曲刚度对能源成本、生物力学和疲劳的影响。


简介：碳板已被用于提高跑鞋的纵向弯曲刚度 （LBS），但它们在长时间跑步中的影响仍然未知。我们的研究旨在确定 LBS 对半程马拉松跑步能量成本 （Cr）、生物力学和疲劳的影响。方法：13 名训练有素的男性跑步者 （半程马拉松时间 < 1 h40） 在两次单独的访问中以与其第二次通气阈值相关的跑步速度的 95% 进行了两次半程马拉松，穿着高 LBS 鞋 （HLBS，带碳板） 或标准 LBS （SLBS） 鞋。在半程马拉松前后，测量了双鞋 12 公里/小时的 Cr（两次 6 分钟的比赛：Cr12）和踝关节跖屈肌 （PF） 力。在半程马拉松期间，评估了跑步运动学、鞋子感知舒适度和 Cr。结果： 在半程马拉松前后的 Cr12 测量中，HLBS 比 SLBS 经济 1.0 ± 2.1% （p < 0.001）。在半程马拉松期间，Cr 随着跑步时间的增加而增加 （p = 0.048），但没有距离×条件效应。HLBS 增加了接触时间 （+3%，p = 0.01），减少了跖趾关节背屈 （-9%，p = 0.01），并且被认为比 SLBS 更不舒适，与跑步持续时间无关。在半程马拉松结束时，HLBS 鞋导致更高的 PF 力损失（-20.0 ± 9.8% 对 -13.3 ± 11.0%，p = 0.048）。结论：在低强度的短跑比赛中，在跑鞋中添加弯曲的碳板略微改善了 Cr，但在半程马拉松期间没有。这种差异可能是用日常 Cr 变异性和鞋子舒适度的变化来解释的。HLBS 鞋的 PF 疲劳较高，但疲劳加剧不会进一步影响板诱导的生物力学扰动。 我们的结果表明，单独的碳板并不能为半程马拉松的表现提供显着优势。