A team of researchers and engineers at Stanford University have developed a radical new method to increase the running efficiency of humans: they put a rubber band between a pair of shoes. This might not sound like a feat of modern technology, but the science behind it is actually quite interesting. According to the team’s research paper, we’re poorly engineered for the task of running: To overcome this travesty of design, team lead Elliot Hawkes, a mechanical engineer now with UC Santa Barbara, came up with the idea to fix a piece of surgical rubber tubing to a pair of running shoes. And, Voila! Subsequent study determined that running with the makeshift aid was not only intuitive – nobody who tried it fell down or tripped – it increased efficiency by as much as ten percent. According to Hawkes: Instead of making it easier for people to run the way they normally do, the researchers found that the ‘exotendon’ caused runners to adapt their stride, forcing them to take more efficient steps.
You can try it yourself if you’re so inclined. All it takes is a pair of running shoes you’re not afraid to mess up, a length of rubber surgical tubing cut at 25 percent the length of your leg, and whatever you can come up with to secure the tether to your shoes. Just keep in mind that this solution was designed to make long-distance running slightly more efficient. A person could get hurt trying to sprint or jump hurdles or play footie in this kind of get up. If you’d like to see all the science and math that went into testing this running aid, check out the team’s research paper here.
