ArticleScientific reports2018
Running in highly cushioned shoes increases leg stiffness and amplifies impact loading.
Article in Scientific reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Effects of Shoe Sole Thickness on Running Biomechanics and Economy: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine - open · 2026Pooled it
- Stiffness and Running Performance: From the Tissue to the Body: A Narrative Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Review
- Emerging sports footwear technologies and their effects on running economy, biomechanics, and performance: a systematic review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Effect of various carbon plate running shoes on peak tibial accelerations, lateral asymmetry and residual shock in running.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Article
- Finite element analysis-based optimization of longitudinal bending stiffness and rearfoot stability in carbon-plated running shoes.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Is increasing the effective leg length of a human runner metabolically beneficial?The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Using Wearable Sensor Technology to Analyze Running Technique and Prospective Running-Related Injuries During United States Military Cadet Basic Training.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2025Article
- The effects of running shoe stack height on running style and stability during level running at different running speeds.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Biomechanical insights into carbon plate geometry in running shoes in male runners: implications for sprint performance and ankle stability.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Advanced Footwear Technology in Non-Elite Runners: A Survey of Training Practices and Reported Outcomes.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Gender Differences in the Dynamics and Kinematics of Running and Their Dependence on Footwear.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Accuracy of self-reported foot strike pattern detection among endurance runners.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Perception of Running Shoe Cushioning: Determining the Correspondence between Subjective Assessment and In-vitro Measurement.International journal of exercise science · 2024Article
- The Impact of Excessive Body Weight and Foot Pronation on Running Kinetics: A Cross-Sectional Study.Sports medicine - open · 2023Article
- Towards functionally individualised designed footwear recommendation for overuse injury prevention: a scoping review.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2023Article
- Effects of Barefoot and Shod Conditions on the Kinematics and Kinetics of the Lower Extremities in Alternating Jump Rope Skipping-A One-Dimensional Statistical Parameter Mapping Study.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The biomechanical effects of insoles with different cushioning on the knee joints of people with different body mass index grades.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Using human-in-the-loop optimization for guiding manual prosthesis adjustments: a proof-of-concept study.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2023Article
- Not Lower-Limb Joint Strength and Stiffness but Vertical Stiffness and Isometric Force-Time Characteristics Correlate With Running Economy in Recreational Male Runners.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Evaluating the Effect of Shoes with Varying Mass on Vertical Ground Reaction Force Parameters in Short-Term Running.International journal of exercise science · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Running shoe cushioning has become a standard method for managing impact loading and consequent injuries due to running. However, despite decades of shoe technology developments and the fact that shoes have become increasingly cushioned, aimed to ease the impact on runners' legs, running injuries have not decreased. To better understand the shoe cushioning paradox, we examined impact loading and the spring-like mechanics of running in a conventional control running shoe and a highly cushioned maximalist shoe at two training speeds, 10 and 14.5 km/h. We found that highly cushioned maximalist shoes alter spring-like running mechanics and amplify rather than attenuate impact loading. This surprising outcome was more pronounced at fast running speed (14.5 km/h), where ground reaction force impact peak and loading rate were 10.7% and 12.3% greater, respectively, in the maximalist shoe compared to the conventional shoe, whereas only a slightly higher impact peak (6.4%) was found at the 10 km/h speed with the maximalist shoe. We attribute the greater impact loading with the maximalist shoes to stiffer leg during landing compared to that of running with the conventional shoes. These discoveries may explain why shoes with more cushioning do not protect against impact-related running injuries.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.