The Effects of Using Double Density Spiked Shoes and Regular Spiked Shoes on VO2Max Values and Physiological Energy Economy in Endurance Runners

Today, many people in society choose running as a general or special activity in order to improve their physical and physiological capabilities. Choosing the right shoes in endurance running can have a great impact on the athlete's performance. Physiological energy economy and maximal oxygen consumption are of particular importance not only among runners but among all athletes. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to compare VO2 Max values and physiological energy economy when using double density spike shoes compared to simple spike shoes. Current study is semi experimental. The statistical sample of the current study includes 30 runners from Ardabil city, who were organized in a group, and the parameters of physiological energy economy, maximum oxygen consumption, resting heart rate, systolic blood pressure and 1600 meters running record were measured during running with both double density spiked shoes and regular spiked shoes. Also, to analyze the data, the analysis of variance test with repeated measurements was used at a significance level of P=0.05. The results of the present study showed not statistically significant difference in the values of maximum oxygen consumption, heart rate and 1600 meters running record with two simple and double density shoes after performing 1600 meters running test. However, the systolic blood pressure values while running with double density shoes were less different than the control shoes (P<0.001). It seems that the use of double density shoes does not have much effect on maximum oxygen consumption, heart rate and physiological energy economy. Therefore, in order to receive more confidence and make a more decisive conclusion, there is a need to conduct more research.