Abstract
The purpose was to investigate differences in reliability of running economy
measurements between familiar and unfamiliar shoes. Thirty-seven runners were
included who all ran in familiar and unfamiliar running shoes while running
economy was measured at steady state using a treadmill. Each participant was
tested on two different visits (three sessions in total), with two trials in
each of the three shoe conditions completed at each visit. Coefficient of
variation, standard deviation of differences, and limits of agreement of running
economy were used to quantify the repeatability (within-visit variation) and
reproducibility (between-visit variation). The coefficient of variation showed a
marginal difference in reproducibility across shoe conditions, whereas no
differences were seen in coefficient of variation, standard deviation of the
differences, or limits of agreement for repeatability across shoes. All three
shoe conditions showed greater repeatability than reproducibility for running
economy, and enhanced repeatability at visit 3 compared to visit 2. Our results
indicate that familiarisation to shoes might not be needed for reliable
measurements of running economy. Based on our results, when evaluating benefits
in running shoes we suggest that running economy be assessed within the same
day. Further, our data suggest a beneficial effect of using multiple
familiarisation sessions if small differences between shoe conditions are
expected.
Key words
reliability - repeatability - reproducibility - running shoes - running economy
