Effect of a Gait Retraining Intervention and a Minimalist Footwear Transition on Foot-ankle Strength, Running Economy and Injury in Endurance Runners.

NCT05499871 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: 09082022
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 140
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The main aim is to determine whether a gait retraining intervention will improve the strength of the foot-ankle muscle, the running economy and reduce the injury incidence in a one-year follow-up study. The secondary aim is to seek whether a minimal foot-ankle strength is necessary to reduce the risk to sustain to a running-related-injury to transit toward a forefoot strike pattern or toward a minimalist footwear for an endurance runner. Participants will be assessed at baseline, at 2 month follow-up, at 6 month follow-up and at 12 month follow-up. Assessment will be composed by questionnaires, a foot screening, maximal voluntary isometric strength of foot-ankle muscle with hand held dynamometer. Then, participants will run on a treadmill at self-paced and at 10 km/h with to measure their running economy and their footstrike pattern. In function of their distribution, participants will receive either nothing (control group) or minimalist footwear or a training to modify their footstrike pattern toward a more forefoot strike.

Conditions

Running; Wounds and Injuries; Oxygen Consumption

Keywords

Gait retraining; Performance; Injuries

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Change in foot-ankle strength

  Measure of maximal voluntary isometric strength of ankle plantar flexors, hallux flexors, lesser toe flexors with hand held dynamometer.

  Change from Baseline foot-ankle strength at 2 month follow-up, Change from Baseline foot-ankle strength at 6 month follow-up, Change from Baseline foot-ankle strength at 12 month follow-up

• Change in running economy

  Measure of oxygen uptake was during steady state run on a treadmill at 10 km/h and at self-paced with was recorded using Ergocard device. Then, running economy was caluled with the formula: Energetic cost = 16.89 \* Vo2 + 4.84\*VCo2

  Change from Baseline running-economy at 2 month follow-up, Change from Baseline running economy at 6 month follow-up, Change from Baseline running economy at 12 month follow-up

• Running-related-injuries

  Number of running related injuries per participant

  At any time during the 12 month follow-up

Study Arms (3)

Minimalist footwear

EXPERIMENTAL

Transition toward a minimalist footwear.

Device: Transition to minimalist footwear.

Footstrike pattern

EXPERIMENTAL

Transition toward a forefootstrike pattern.

Behavioral: Gait retraining intervention

Control

NO INTERVENTION

No intervention

Interventions

Gait retraining intervention BEHAVIORAL

Participants will receive a training to modify their footstrike pattern toward a more forefoot strike and increase their cadence by 7.5%.

Footstrike pattern

Transition to minimalist footwear. DEVICE

Participants will receive a running minimalist footwear.

Minimalist footwear

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 55 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Run 15 km per week since minimum 6 month

You may not qualify if:

• No running related injuries in the last 3 month before the participation.
• Have never worn minimalist footwear (minimalist index superior to 70%)
• Have never modified their footstrike pattern

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Liege: lead

Study Sites (1)

Guillaume Abran

Liège, 4000, Belgium

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Abran G, Schwartz C, Dardenne N, Delvaux F, Croisier JL. Minimalist Footwear and Softer Running Technique Alter Injury Location but Not Incidence in Recreational Endurance Runners. Am J Sports Med. 2026 Jan;54(1):109-117. doi: 10.1177/03635465251392242. Epub 2026 Jan 1.

  PMID: 41476413 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Wounds and Injuries

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: PhD student

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 9, 2022
• First Posted: August 12, 2022
• Study Start: September 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: September 12, 2022
• Study Completion: September 30, 2024
• Last Updated: May 16, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

BE (1)