A good 80 percent of the population has back pain at least
once a year. According to the “Back Report 2011” of the Swiss Rheumatism
League, all classes are affected, regardless of age, gender or occupation.
A shoe from Switzerland is now supposed to provide relief
for back pain: a study by the University of Jena / Germany attests that a
special shoe has exceptionally positive properties.
The influence of Joya shoes on the leg and back muscles was
investigated in a study at the Jena University Hospital. In the in-house
biomechanical laboratory, almost 50 test subjects tested the Joya shoes while
standing and walking, while the activity of their muscles was recorded using
electromyography. According to the manufacturer's self-assessment, Joya shoes
transform hard industrial floors into soft surfaces, thus enabling natural and
healthy walking.
The soft elastic sole reduces the impact on the joints and
spine to a minimum. In the study, the two different Joya sole categories
"Motion" and "Emotion" were compared with each other as
well as with conventional shoes and walking barefoot. In order not to falsify
the results of the study, it was consciously ensured that the conventional shoe
does not have a hard heel, but rather a rather soft thermoplastic sole with a normal
soft heel.
For the head of the study, Prof. Dr. Christoph Anders
surprisingly: “Both Joya sole categories have very different activation
characteristics when walking compared to the comparison shoe: The Emotion shoe
relieves and relaxes the muscles and is therefore suitable for long-term
stress.
Meanwhile, the Joya shoe in the Motion category, with its
rounded sole and integrated activator, has a strongly activating characteristic
and should therefore be viewed more as a training device. "
In the course of the study, Prof. Dr. Christoph Anders,
specialist in the functional area of motor skills, pathophysiology and
biomechanics, found that in both Joya sole models the back muscles are
activated even before the heel, which protects the spine from damaging impacts.
“Anyone who puts on Joya shoes has a great responsibility towards their body.
Because, on the one hand, he can protect his body and, on the other hand, he
can activate it, ”he adds.
Test person study Jena
The two Joya founders, Karl Müller (34) and Claudio Minder
(39), are impressed by the results of the study at Jena University Hospital.
“We knew that our shoes have a positive effect on the body. We are surprised
that the result is so clear and differentiated, ”explains Claudio Minder.
Spurred on by the scientific
results, the two are now planning further groundbreaking
shoe technologies, Karl Müller: "I am convinced that with these findings
we can develop further sole technologies that influence our gait pattern even
more effectively."
Karl Müller is someone who should know, he comes from the
family of inventors who brought the revolutionary MBT shoe (Masai Barefoot
Technology) onto the market in the nineties. A good omen to shape the shoe
industry again with a small revolution.
Study carried out by MTF Elke Mey,
cand. Med. Lisa Kulschewski, Prof. Dr. Christoph Anders.
(c) Friedrich Schiller University, Jena 2017 - 2019.
Study "Influence of different shoe configurations on
the activity patterns of selected leg and core muscles" (PDF)
Appendix to the study (PDF)
Cover picture: Joya Schuh, model ID Zoom Light Gray
