Women on the Run
March 31, 2007
Surprise, surprise. Women are different from men.
They differ in weight, the length of their bones is different, and their muscles are also composed differently than men's. They're more agile, and they move their bodies differently.
With all those differences, shoemakers are finally getting into step and designing jogging shoes to better suit the "other sex." Gone will be the days of men's running shoes merely prettied up in attempts to appeal to women.
Inga Krauss, a sports scientist and physical therapist specializing in biomechanics, has been studying the needs of female joggers for three years now.
"Women are smaller and thus lighter," said Krauss. "Their shoe should be lighter in weight and more flexible," she explained.
Designing for different bodies
She pointed out that the structure of women's ligaments and muscles is more flexible, and when women run, they tend to buckle or bend inward, so their shoes need to be more stable at the same time.
In addition, women have wider pelvises than men. While that creates space for carrying and bearing childen, it does affect the way they run and how they impact their footgear.
Krauss worked with other sports scientists at the University of Tübingen on a study called -- lucidly enough -- "Women's Running." She and other biomechanics experts tracked around 900 women and men as they walked.
They created computer generated three-dimensional images showing how women and men move, and allowing them to determine what qualities running shoes for women should have.
Crush zones to prevent painful pressure marks
"There needs to be more flexibility in the roll direction, because women are lighter and put strain on a shoe differently than men," said Stefan Grau, head of the Biomechanics Department at the University of Tübingen.
More flex notches -- horizontal sections in the sole that have less material -- are necessary in the front part of the shoe to increase flexibility, he said.
It's not just the sole that should be altered either. The heels and in-steps of sports footwear should be adjusted to enhance stability.
"Crush zones" can also be built into the front of shoes -- on the left and right sides where the toes are attached to the feet -- that are flexible. They can accommodate the varying widths of people's feet and prevent pressure spots.
Spring foot fashion
Sportswear maker Nike is bringing the results of the Tübingen researchers -- with whom the company has often cooperated -- onto the market this spring. The experts suggested, however, that women go to speciality running shops to buy their shoes because there they are likely to get the best advice.
Even there, a female customer can still have bad luck, even if she's willing to pay 100 to 140 euros ($133-187) for jogging shoes that will last a year, or for 2,500 to 4,000 kilometers (1,553-2,486 miles), said Krauss.
"My problem is that I have long feet, so I still have to buy men's shoes because women's shoes are not made in my length," she added.
Just as people have grown in size over the decades -- thanks to better nutrition -- so, too, are women's feet getting longer. However, manufacturers have yet to gear more of their products to anatomical developments.
Any female jogger can also tell you that men's feet are wider than women's.
Researchers, then, still have to put their thinking caps on to come up with more new designs.
And manufacturers may just have to jog around the block one more time until they come up with more affordable running shoes better suited to women's needs.