{
  "abstract": "Greater foot longitudinal bending stiffness theoretically facilitates bipedal walking by reducing whole-body metabolic rate, yet empirical evidence is elusive. Here, we tested this theory by studying human walking with and without foot-stiffening socks. These custom socks applied more pressure to the user's forefoot than commercially available socks (p < 0.001), which in turn increased medial longitudinal arch stiffness through cross-axis coupling (p = 0.034). Walking with foot-stiffening socks reduced whole-body metabolic rate 2% versus the use of commercial socks (p = 0.008). Biomechanically, stiffening participants' feet increased ankle gear ratio (peak: p = 0.017; average: p = 0.045) and reduced the ankle's average angular velocity during the stance-phase of walking (p = 0.018). In congruence, leg muscle fascicle shortening velocities decreased 15–20% (soleus: p = 0.023; medial gastrocnemius: p = 0.005), contributing to the 9–12% reduction in estimated leg active muscle volume (model1: p = 0.015; model2: p = 0.142). Therefore, foot-stiffening socks make walking less effortful by eliciting more economical leg muscle contractions, supporting the notion that the evolved stiffening of human feet facilitate terrestrial bipedal locomotion.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1415, USA"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hui Tang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Owen Beck",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-1802-6036"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3djt0mf1gg2bw.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1098/rspb.2026.1467",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13730810/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "3djt0mf1gg2bw",
  "issns": [
    "0962-8452",
    "1471-2954"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13730810",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Biomechanics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Morphology & Biomechanics"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Physiology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2204|Lower Extremity Biomechanics and Pathologies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7225170351",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13730810/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13730810",
  "pmid": "42976953",
  "published": "2026-11-04",
  "publisher": "The Royal Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3djt0mf1gg2bw.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T15:20:45Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13730810",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13730810"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T12:23:17Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13730810",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2026.1467"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "heading:Physiology",
      "subfield": "physiology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Foot-stiffening socks reduce the metabolic cost of walking",
  "title_text": "Foot-stiffening socks reduce the metabolic cost of walking",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-07T12:23:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/3djt0mf1gg2bw",
  "venue": "Proceedings. Biological sciences",
  "versions": []
}