Date

5-23-2025

Department

School of Health Sciences

Degree

Master of Science in Human Performance (MS)

Chair

Justin Kilian

Keywords

Minimalist Shoes, Anaerobic Performance, Sports Performance, Agility

Disciplines

Kinesiology

Abstract

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.

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