“Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” is perhaps the most basic law of physics. But one is channeling those reactions to improve athletic performance with the slip of an insole into a shoe.
VKTRY Performance Insoles produces a line of shoe inserts that harness and return the energy produced by pushing against the ground in tandem with the ground’s reactive force. The insoles were conceived and designed by Matt Arciuolo, the former pedorthist for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. Working with the team, Arciuolo had to create an orthotic that helped them in the crucial push phase, he told SportTechie.
The result became VKTRY, or VKs, which weigh less than one ounce and are less than one millimeter thick, allowing them to fit into virtually any type of athletic shoe: spikes/cleats, trainers, basketball sneakers, etc. Eight years of research and product development have gotten VKs to the point where the insole feels invisible but its effect is magnified, Arciuolo said. VKTRY received a patent for his design in the fall of 2015.
VKs have been engineered with the optimal bio-mechanical balance of flexibility and stability calibrated at specific places along the length of the foot, according to VKTRY CEO Steve Wasik. The product is marketed to more serious athletes, he said, but it is equally useful to the recreational runner or exerciser.
“To something as simple as walking, you need ground force, and the harder you can push against the ground, the more efficient (you) can move,” Arciuolo said. “Elite athletes feel the benefits — and also they see the benefits, because a lot of them are being timed down to the hundredths of a second. The Average Joe is not doing that, but his improvement will be apparent to him as far as how he feels, as far as his performance results and things like that.”
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For Gary Vitti, a runner and the former head athletic trainer for the Los Angeles Lakers, VKs represent innovation in capturing human kinetic energy and transferring it from heel to toe, allowing runners to bound forward with more force.
A significant attribute of the VKs is their flexibility. Though VKs are strictly for performance and have no medical function, Vitti mentioned that harder orthotics—which are corrective—lead to greater injury. The VKs are made of aerospace-caliber carbon fiber at five levels of flexibility and rigidity based on a person’s weight and shoe size.
“They’ve taken the energy and transferred it through the orthotic so that when the athlete toes off, he toes off at a greater amount of force than if he did not have that orthotic in his shoe,” Vitti said. He introduced VKs to the Lakers, but is unsure of any advancements since he left his position as their trainer.
But all the energy that is stored and returned has to produce results, and VKTRY has the data to back its claims. A year-long study at Southern Connecticut State University led by PhDs in the Human Performance Lab corroborated testimonials from over 100 athletes; according to Wasik, the study yielded a 9.3-percent increase in force when tested on the vertical jump and 40-yard dash.
While the VKTRY team is still trying to spread the word about its product’s benefits, NFL teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts have latched on and made orders, as has college football powerhouse Texas A&M.
Overall, VKs seem to be catching on, despite their $199 price — Wasik said VKTRY surpassed its 2016 sales total in just the first quarter of 2017.
