The Padded Paradox: The Cost Of Cushioned Running Shoes

January 9, 2024

Many runners find that max running shoes feel great—like soft, bouncy moon boots or like the shoe is doing the work for you. But highly cushioned shoes are not actually linked to lower levels of impact than traditional running shoes; in fact, they come with a higher vertical average load rate and vertical instantaneous loading rate—both of which promote overuse injuries like stress fractures and plantar fasciitis, research published in 2015 in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise revealed. Women’s Running