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Aktive footwear
Training deep muscles with active footwear
Anyone who spends extended periods of time in uncomfortable shoes or high heels knows the typical consequences: pressure and plain discomfort. One of the reasons for this is that the feet’s natural rolling motion is blocked and incorrect foot loading occurs. In contrast, active footwear ensures healthy walking dynamics.
How to get feet to enter active mode
Active footwear ‘trains’ even while the wearer is standing, because their construction and the materials used create a certain instability, thus stimulating compensatory movements in the feet, lower legs and back. This encourages active foot stabilisation and activates the important deep muscles in the back area, enabling upright, healthy walking and stable standing. Active footwear helps you to stay mobile and fit, and is effective in preventing many orthopaedic problems. So it is used not only by people wanting to improve their fitness, but also by individuals seeking to prevent injuries or treat specific foot problems.
Training effect through material and shape
The core element of active footwear is a specifically shaped sole that supports natural movement patterns and promotes active walking. Active footwear has a sensorimotor activating effect on the soles of the feet, as well as on postural and muscle reflexes. This means that active footwear cushions the impact with every step, thus relieving the back from compression. Like the entire posture, the arches of the feet are naturally aligned and balance is strengthened.
Stimulating the body’s own training effects
Active footwear is designed to stimulate the feet’s proprioceptive abilities – these are deep sensors in muscles, tendons and joints. They constantly inform our brains about the position, tension and movement of the individual parts of the body. So active footwear has positive effects not only on the feet, but also on the legs and torso. Experts refer to this as a ‘kinematic chain’.
The kinematic chain:
Our musculoskeletal system consists of a chain of bones that are flexibly connected to each other through joints. Ligaments stabilise joints and often only allow certain directions of movement. Muscles set the entire skeleton in motion, with tendons acting as pull cords and force transmitters. A simple joint like a hinge joint (e.g. the middle joints in our fingers) requires at least two muscles that move or brake the adjacent bones in the two possible directions. Joints with multiple directions of movement need several muscles that move and stabilise the joint through more complex tension patterns. Since, in principle, all the sections of the skeleton are directly or indirectly in contact, a distant joint position often affects other sections. This is called the ‘kinematic chain’. For example: a pointed foot position in the ankle joints (as encountered when wearing high-heeled shoes) leads to tension in the front muscles of the lower legs, the knees become hyperextended. The extension in the knees leads to forward tilting of the pelvis in the hip joints through the tensed front thigh muscles. To continue standing upright, the torso must then move backwards into a hollow back in the subsequent lumbar spine. Through this kinematic chain, high-heeled shoes can cause problems in the lumbar spine over time.
For active footwear to be rated as particularly back-friendly, it must meet several requirements, including an appropriate length and sufficient width in the forefoot area. It is important that the big toes can be aligned straight. Additionally, active footwear should be made from high-quality materials. Vegetable (i.e. vegetable-tanned) leather or synthetic leather, or breathable textiles are suitable. In general, you should ensure sufficient water vapour permeability.
Checklist for back-friendly active footwear
- The soles must be constructed to cushion impact and relieve the forefoot and heels. The goal is for the sole construction to improve overall posture.
- When walking, the active footwear should promote the feet’s natural movement patterns and the rolling motion.
- While standing and during the feet’s rolling motion, muscle activation should be measurably improved. This causes natural alignment of the foot's arch and promotes posture coordination.
- The training effect is even more noticeable when active footwear acts as a muscle training device even while standing.
- The footwear must be the correct length. Often, people simply buy footwear in too large a size because, otherwise, it isn’t wide enough.
- The shape of the footwear should be based on the natural shape of the feet. The footwear should neither pinch nor be too big. This prevents misalignments and positively influences the internal shoe climate.
Minimum requirements
Additional minimum requirements for active footwear
- Fine movements possible
- Must trigger compensatory movements
- Secure heel strike
Products with the AGR seal of approval
chung shi - ME & Friends AG
Rudolf-Diesel-Ring 11
83607 Holzkirchen
GERMANY
Phone +49 8024/608980
www.chung-shi.com
GANTER Shoes GmbH
Joseph-Lorenz-Straße 2
4775 Taufkirchen/Pram
AUSTRIA
Phone +43 7719/88 11 70 0
Fax +43 7719/88 11 79 5
www.ganter-shoes.com
kybun Joya Retail AG
Mühleweg 4
CH-9325 Roggwil (TG)
SWITZERLAND
Phone +41 58 329 40 00
www.kybunjoya.swiss
Pictures and videos
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