Role of Minimalist Footwear on Stability, Change of Direction, and Power Production: A Randomized Crossover Trial

The purpose of the present study was to examine the acute effects of minimalist footwear (MFW) on participants’ ability to stabilize, change direction, and produce power. A randomized crossover design was used. Eighteen subjects participated. Participants tested in MFW and traditional running shoes (RS) and were randomly assigned an order. The protocol included a warm-up, limits of stability (LS) assessment, pro-agility test (PA), modified t-test (MT), countermovement jump (CMJ), and an isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP). No significant differences were found (p £ 0.05), and the effect sizes were trivial to small. For the LS assessment, time (ES = 0.350) and backward (ES = 0.229) had small effect sizes with MFW performing better and right had a small effect size (ES = 0.287) with RS performing better. Every other variable for the LS had a trivial effect size. For the PA assessment there was a small effect size (ES = 0.429) with MFW performing better. For the MT assessment there was a small effect size (ES = 0.411) with MFW performing better. For the CMJ, every variable had a trivial effect size. For the IMTP , peak force (ES = 0.216), time to peak force (ES = 0.316), and rate of force development (RFD) 0 – 50 ms (ES = 0.246) had a small effect size. Rate of force development 0 – 100 ms had a trivial effect size with MFW performing better. In conclusion, this indicates that MFW may not acutely influence stability and may positively influence change of direction and power production.