Impacts of Wearable Resistance Placement on Running Efficiency Assessed by Wearable Sensors: A Pilot Study

Wearable resistance training is widely applied to enhance running performance, but how different placements of wearable resistance across various body parts influence running efficiency remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the impacts of wearable resistance placement on running efficiency by comparing five running conditions: no load, and an additional 10% load of individual body mass on the trunk, forearms, lower legs, and a combination of these areas. Running efficiency was assessed through biomechanical (spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic) variables using acceleration-based wearable sensors placed on the shoes of 15 recreational male runners (20.3 ± 1.23 years) during treadmill running in a randomized order. The main findings indicate distinct effects of different load distributions on specific spatiotemporal variables (contact time, flight time, and flight ratio, p ≤ 0.001) and kinematic variables (footstrike type, p < 0.001). Specifically, adding loads to the lower legs produces effects similar to running with no load: shorter contact time, longer flight time, and a higher flight ratio compared to other load conditions. Moreover, lower leg loads result in a forefoot strike, unlike the midfoot strike seen in other conditions. These findings suggest that lower leg loads enhance running efficiency more than loads on other parts of the body.