Footwear, Insoles, Inserts, Kits and Methods

Abstract

Footwear, insoles, inserts, kits and methods effective for acclimating a user's foot to a different heel-toe ramp and/or foot strike pattern are provided. Footwear, insoles, inserts and kits of the present disclosure have a region of adjustable thickness which allows the user to gradually change the heel-toe ramp of the user's foot, and/or gradually adapt to a new foot-strike pattern. Regions of adjustable thickness may include a layered pad, inserts of varying thicknesses which may be used with the footwear or insert, or a material having a thickness which changes with the rate of applied force.

1 . A footwear insole having an adjustable thickness, comprising:
 a top surface for receiving a bottom of a user's foot, and a bottom surface opposite the top surface;   the insole configured to extend along a portion of the user's foot;   wherein at least one portion of the insole is a region of adjustable thickness.   
     
     
         2 . The insole of  claim 1  wherein the insole comprises a heel region. 
     
     
         3 . The insole of  claim 2  wherein the insole extends from the heel region to a non-heel region comprising at least a portion of an arch region. 
     
     
         4 . The insole of  claim 3  wherein the insole further comprises a metatarsal region. 
     
     
         5 . The insole of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a heel end and a toe end on opposite ends of the insole; and   a heel region adjacent to the heel end and a metatarsal region adjacent to the toe end;   wherein at least a portion of at least one of the heel region and the metatarsal region is a region of adjustable thickness.   
     
     
         6 . The insole of  claim 5  comprising two regions of adjustable thickness, wherein the heel region comprises one region of adjustable thickness and the non-heel region comprises the second region of adjustable thickness. 
     
     
         7 . The insole of  claim 1 , wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a layered pad, the layered pad extending from the bottom surface of the insole, the layered pad comprising a plurality of padding layers disposed in contact with each other, the padding layers having a layer of adhesive therebetween. 
     
     
         8 . The insole of  claim 1 , wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a bracket for receiving an insert, the bracket configured to slidably engage the insert. 
     
     
         9 . A kit for acclimating a user's foot to a desired heel-toe ramp, comprising the insole of  claim 8  and one or more inserts of varying thickness. 
     
     
         10 . The insole of  claim 1 , wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a cavity within a heel region of the insole, the cavity configured to receive an insert. 
     
     
         11 . A kit for acclimating a user's foot to a desired heel-toe ramp, comprising the insole of  claim 10  and one or more inserts of varying thickness. 
     
     
         12 . The insole of  claim 1 , wherein the region of adjustable thickness has a thickness which can be adjusted from between 12 mm to 0 mm in 2 mm increments. 
     
     
         13 . The insole of  claim 1  wherein the region of adjustable thickness is adapted to adjust in response to a rate of force applied, such that a lower rate of force applied results in more compression of the region of adjustable thickness and a higher rate of force applied results in less compression of the region of adjustable thickness. 
     
     
         14 . The insole of  claim 13  further comprising a recessed region and an insert, wherein the region of adjustable thickness is an insert disposed within the recessed region. 
     
     
         15 . A method for acclimating a user's foot to a target heel-toe ramp, the method comprising:
 providing an insole with a top surface for receiving a bottom of a user's foot and a bottom surface opposite the top surface, the insole extending along a portion of the user's foot, at least a portion of the insole having a region of adjustable thickness; and   gradually adjusting the heel-toe ramp of the insole from a starting heel-toe ramp to a target heel-toe ramp.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the insole has a heel end and a toe end on opposite ends of the insole, a heel region adjacent to the heel, end and a metatarsal region adjacent to the toe end;
 wherein at least one of a portion of the heel region and a portion of the metatarsal region is the region of adjustable thickness. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  comprising two regions of adjustable thickness, wherein the heel region comprises one region of adjustable thickness and the non-heel region comprises the second region of adjustable thickness. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a layered pad, the layered pad extending from the bottom surface of the insole, the layered pad comprising a plurality of padding layers disposed in contact with each other, the padding layers having a layer of adhesive therebetween. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a deformable bracket for receiving an insert, the bracket configured to slidably engage an insert. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the region of adjustable thickness comprises a cavity within the heel region of the insole, the cavity configured to receive an insert. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the heel-toe ramp angle is adjustable from 12 mm to 0 mm in 2 mm increments. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the region of adjustable thickness is adapted to adjust in response to a rate of force applied, such that a lower rate of force applied results in more compression of the region of adjustable thickness and a higher rate of force applied results in less compression of the region of adjustable thickness. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the step of gradually adjusting the heel-toe ramp angle comprises:
 adjusting a thickness of the region of adjustable thickness to provide a first desired heel-toe ramp angle; 
 using the insole with footwear for a first duration of time sufficient for a user's foot to acclimate to the first desired heel-toe ramp angle; 
 adjusting the thickness of the region of adjustable thickness to provide for a second desired heel-toe ramp angle different from the first desired heel-toe ramp angle; and 
 using the insole with footwear for a second duration of time sufficient for a user's foot to acclimate to the second desired heel-toe ramp angle. 
 
     
     
         24 . A method for acclimating a user's foot from a first foot-strike pattern to a second foot-strike pattern, the method comprising:
 providing an insole with a top surface for receiving a bottom of a user's foot, a bottom surface opposite the top surface, a heel end and a toe end on opposite ends of the insole, a heel region adjacent to the heel end, and a metatarsal region adjacent to the toe end;   wherein at least one of a portion of the heel region and a portion of the metatarsal region is a region of adjustable thickness, the region of adjustable thickness is adapted to adjust in response to a rate of force applied, such that a lower rate of force applied results in more compression of the region of adjustable thickness and a higher rate of force applied results in less compression of the region of adjustable thickness, the region of adjustable thickness being located at a first location where the foot first strikes the ground during a first foot-strike pattern; and   using the insole with footwear for a first duration of time sufficient for a user's foot to acclimate to a second foot-strike pattern having a second location where the foot first strikes the ground.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  further comprising the step of:
 removing the region of adjustable thickness from its first location to the second location when the user's foot has acclimated to the second foot-strike pattern. 
 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24  further comprising removing the insole from the footwear once the user has acclimated to the second foot-strike pattern. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the first foot strike pattern is a pattern wherein the heel strikes the ground first, and the second foot-strike pattern is a pattern where the mid-foot strikes the ground first. 
     
     
         28 . Footwear, comprising:
 an insole having a top surface for receiving a bottom of a user's foot, and a bottom surface opposite the top surface;   a heel end and a toe end on opposite ends of the insole;   a heel region adjacent to the heel end and a metatarsal region adjacent to the toe end;   a recessed region in at least one of the heel region and the metatarsal region; and   an insert disposed within the at least one recessed region, wherein the insert comprises a non-Newtonian material.