Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy: Results from a randomized crossover study of trained runners across various running speeds and footwear conditions

Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy: Results from a randomized crossover study of trained runners across various running speeds and footwear conditions | 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 Research Article Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy: Results from a randomized crossover study of trained runners across various running speeds and footwear conditions Carlo von Diecken, Marlene Riedl, Steffen Willwacher, Olaf Ueberschär This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal.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-7316917/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Dynamic stability has been proposed as a factor influencing running economy, but the nature and strength of this relationship remain poorly understood. Further, advanced footwear technology (AFT) has been widely adopted as it improves running economy, but it may also compromise dynamic stability due to its compliant midsole. Understanding the relationship between dynamic stability and running economy and how both can be affected through footwear could have important implications for performance optimization and footwear design. Methods 21 trained runners completed treadmill trials in four AFT models and their habitual SFT shoes at three individualized speeds. Local dynamic stability (LDS) was quantified via maximum Lyapunov exponents from seven segmental angular velocities, aggregated per trial. Running economy was measured as cost of transport. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess relationships between LDS, COT, and footwear. Results Aggregated LDS was negatively associated with COT ( p = 0.036), indicating that runners with lower dynamic stability had better running economy. Further, footwear condition had no significant effect on LDS ( p = 0.060–0.359), suggesting that AFT does not compromise running stability compared to habitual SFT running shoes. Conclusions 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 habitual SFT, suggesting that alterations of footwear characteristics within commercially available models have limited effects on running stability. Sports Medicine and Kinesiology running running economy stability advanced footwear technology lyapunov exponent cost of transport Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files Supplementaltablesvondiecken20250806.docx Mean stability and cost of transport values at each combination of footwear and running speed as well as complete results from Tukey adjusted pairwise comparisons of estimated marginal means Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted 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. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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-7316917","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":497054699,"identity":"9529bceb-e578-4f3c-a70b-8582175aea8f","order_by":0,"name":"Carlo von Diecken","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-3286-3806","institution":"Institute for Advanced Biomechanics and Motion Studies, Offenburg University, 77652 Offenburg, Germany","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carlo","middleName":"","lastName":"von Diecken","suffix":""},{"id":497054700,"identity":"501c72a3-b386-4c78-ad14-0c127828657f","order_by":1,"name":"Marlene Riedl","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2322-9097","institution":"Department of Engineering and Industrial Design, Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marlene","middleName":"","lastName":"Riedl","suffix":""},{"id":497054702,"identity":"b8da5009-ed77-4f3f-b643-a861e48d9e86","order_by":2,"name":"Steffen Willwacher","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1303-3165","institution":"Institute for Advanced Biomechanics and Motion Studies, Offenburg University, 77652 Offenburg, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Steffen","middleName":"","lastName":"Willwacher","suffix":""},{"id":497054701,"identity":"e926cae2-3718-498c-9733-245053b4f74d","order_by":3,"name":"Olaf Ueberschär","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6822-5201","institution":"Department of Engineering and Industrial Design, Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences, 39114 Magdeburg, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Olaf","middleName":"","lastName":"Ueberschär","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-07 09:11:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":true,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true,"humanSubjectConsent":true,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7316917/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7316917/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":88616805,"identity":"406d61cc-aded-4f4e-a385-1b3d97d1541b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:55:43","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":681908,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscriptvondiecken20250806.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7316917/v1_covered_41c17a42-2093-4b01-ac71-b599eaad2da7.pdf"},{"id":88614891,"identity":"bed308c2-d5af-44b8-9c80-ff97baad790f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-08 10:31:40","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":36694,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMean stability and cost of transport values at each combination of footwear and running speed as well as complete results from Tukey adjusted pairwise comparisons of estimated marginal means\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Supplementaltablesvondiecken20250806.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7316917/v1/717ee207c1e7d2ac321344cd.docx"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eRunners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy: Results from a randomized crossover study of trained runners across various running speeds and footwear conditions\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"running, running economy, stability, advanced footwear technology, lyapunov exponent, cost of transport","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7316917/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7316917/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eDynamic stability has been proposed as a factor influencing running economy, but the nature and strength of this relationship remain poorly understood. Further, advanced footwear technology (AFT) has been widely adopted as it improves running economy, but it may also compromise dynamic stability due to its compliant midsole. Understanding the relationship between dynamic stability and running economy and how both can be affected through footwear could have important implications for performance optimization and footwear design.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003e21 trained runners completed treadmill trials in four AFT models and their habitual SFT shoes at three individualized speeds. Local dynamic stability (LDS) was quantified via maximum Lyapunov exponents from seven segmental angular velocities, aggregated per trial. Running economy was measured as cost of transport. Linear mixed-effects models were used to assess relationships between LDS, COT, and footwear.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eAggregated LDS was negatively associated with COT (\u003cem\u003ep\u0026thinsp;=\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;0.036), indicating that runners with lower dynamic stability had better running economy. Further, footwear condition had no significant effect on LDS (\u003cem\u003ep\u0026thinsp;=\u003c/em\u003e\u0026thinsp;0.060\u0026ndash;0.359), suggesting that AFT does not compromise running stability compared to habitual SFT running shoes.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis 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 habitual SFT, suggesting that alterations of footwear characteristics within commercially available models have limited effects on running stability.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Runners with lower dynamic stability exhibit better running economy: Results from a randomized crossover study of trained runners across various running speeds and footwear conditions","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-08 10:31:35","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7316917/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3511969f-08e4-43e3-83ae-b9302e9c152e","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 8th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":52801734,"name":"Sports Medicine and Kinesiology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-08T10:31:35+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-08 10:31:35","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7316917","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7316917","identity":"rs-7316917","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}