The spring in the arch of the human foot
- 8 January 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Nature
- Vol. 325 (6100), 147-149
- https://doi.org/10.1038/325147a0
Abstract
Large mammals, including humans, save much of the energy needed for running by means of elastic structures in their legs and feet1,2. Kinetic and potential energy removed from the body in the first half of the stance phase is stored briefly as elastic strain energy and then returned in the second half by elastic recoil. Thus the animal runs in an analogous fashion to a rubber ball bouncing along. Among the elastic structures involved, the tendons of distal leg muscles have been shown to be important2,3. Here we show that the elastic properties of the arch of the human foot are also important.Keywords
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- The human foot. An experimental study of its mechanics, and the role of its muscles and ligaments in the support of the archJournal of Anatomy, 1941