Effect of midsole bending stiffness on achilles tendon strain during countermovement jumps

Greater shoe midsole bending stiffness has been shown to improve jump height during single leg maximal jumping, however, this improved performance may come at the cost of increased Achilles tendon (AT) injury risk from greater AT strain. We calculated participant-specific AT strain during maximal countermovement jumps in shoes with different midsole bending stiffness. We found that AT strains were unaffected by midsole bending stiffness due to the opposing factors of increased MTP range of motion and an anterior centre of pressure shift when jumping in stiffer shoes.