Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy

Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy Carlo Diecken, Marlene Riedl, Steffen Willwacher, Olaf Ueberschär This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7420148/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 31 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Maintaining dynamic stability during running incurs an energetic cost that does not contribute to forward propulsion. Despite this, dynamic stability has received little attention as a potential factor influencing running economy. To understand the relationship between dynamic stability and running economy and how both can be affected through footwear, twenty-one trained runners were tested on a treadmill across three individualized speeds and five footwear conditions (4 advanced footwear technology (AFT) and 1 non-AFT). Local dynamic stability (LDS) was quantified via maximum Lyapunov exponents from seven segmental angular velocities, aggregated per trial and running economy was measured as cost of transport using metabolic gas-exchange data. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess relationships between LDS, COT and footwear. Aggregated LDS was negatively associated with COT ( p = 0.036), while footwear condition had no significant effect on LDS ( p = 0.060–0.359). This study is the first to demonstrate that an aggregate of LDS across multiple body segments is negatively associated with COT, indicating that runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy. AFT did not affect LDS compared to non-AFT, suggesting that the ergogenic effects of AFT are achieved without compromising running stability. Physical sciences/Engineering Biological sciences/Physiology Running stability advanced footwear technology Lyapunov biomechanics running economy Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files supplementalmaterialsvondiecken200825.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 31 Oct, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Oct, 2025 Reviews received at journal 30 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 15 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 03 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 03 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 26 Aug, 2025 Editor invited by journal 22 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 21 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 21 Aug, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7420148","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":510899574,"identity":"74527b41-c9f5-44f3-a5b3-781595d3f399","order_by":0,"name":"Carlo 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footwear technology, Lyapunov, biomechanics, running economy","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7420148/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7420148/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMaintaining dynamic stability during running incurs an energetic cost that does not contribute to forward propulsion. Despite this, dynamic stability has received little attention as a potential factor influencing running economy. To understand the relationship between dynamic stability and running economy and how both can be affected through footwear, twenty-one trained runners were tested on a treadmill across three individualized speeds and five footwear conditions (4 advanced footwear technology (AFT) and 1 non-AFT). Local dynamic stability (LDS) was quantified via maximum Lyapunov exponents from seven segmental angular velocities, aggregated per trial and running economy was measured as cost of transport using metabolic gas-exchange data. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess relationships between LDS, COT and footwear. Aggregated LDS was negatively associated with COT (\u003cem\u003ep\u0026thinsp;=\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;0.036), while footwear condition had no significant effect on LDS (\u003cem\u003ep\u0026thinsp;=\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;0.060\u0026ndash;0.359). This study is the first to demonstrate that an aggregate of LDS across multiple body segments is negatively associated with COT, indicating that runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy. AFT did not affect LDS compared to non-AFT, suggesting that the ergogenic effects of AFT are achieved without compromising running stability.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-10 09:01:51","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7420148/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-10-01T12:23:55+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-30T08:57:39+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-16T02:56:01+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"308045814329623695510608390385645115334","date":"2025-09-05T16:14:58+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"3025479935270410583316944359178875108","date":"2025-09-03T15:19:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-03T14:25:36+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-08-26T12:14:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-08-22T12:29:21+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-08-21T15:21:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-08-21T15:18:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3511969f-08e4-43e3-83ae-b9302e9c152e","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 10th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":54272722,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":54272723,"name":"Biological sciences/Physiology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-11-03T16:03:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7420148","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26008-x","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-10-31 15:58:31","publishedOnDateReadable":"October 31st, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-10 09:01:51","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-26008-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-26008-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7420148","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7420148","identity":"rs-7420148","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}