ArticleScientific reports2020
Adding carbon fiber to shoe soles may not improve running economy: a muscle-level explanation.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Relationship Between Running Biomechanics and Running Economy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- Advanced Footwear Technology in Distance Running: What We Know, What We Don't Know, and Future Directions.European journal of sport science · 2026Article
- The running economy and biomechanics of competitive distance runners wearing advanced footwear technology spikes.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Effects of midsole support plate material on lower-limb kinetics and muscle activation during basketball-specific movements.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Economy benefits of running in advanced footwear technology shoes remain with plantarflexion fatigue.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Article
- Deformable foot orthoses shift the functional roles of foot and ankle joints during walking gait.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Simulation-guided design of exotendons to reduce the energetic cost of running.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Carbon plates in running shoes biomechanics: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Review
- Mechanisms, Economy, and Performance of Advanced Footwear Technology in Endurance Running-A Review.Muscles (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Propulsion without penalty: greater soleus force with stiffer footwear does not necessarily increase estimated soleus metabolic cost across walking speeds.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2025Article
- The Mediating Effect of Running Biomechanics, Anthropometrics, Muscle Architecture, and Comfort on Running Economy Across Different Shoes.Scandinavian journal of medicine & science in sports · 2025Article
- Skeletal muscle elastic modulus in marathon distance runners.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Profile of 50 m Sprinting: The Influence of Carbon-Plated Spikes on Maximum-Velocity Performance.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Effects of carbon-fiber plate design on foot stress injury risk: a finite element analysis.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- The effects of different carbon-fiber plate shapes in shoes on lower limb biomechanics following running-induced fatigue.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Article
- Effect of Advanced Footwear Technology Spikes on Sprint Acceleration: A Multiple N-of-1 Trial.Sports medicine - open · 2024Article
- Technologically advanced running shoes reduce oxygen cost and cumulative tibial loading per kilometer in recreational female and male runners.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Acute physiological, biomechanical, and perceptual responses of runners wearing downward-curved carbon fiber insoles.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?Frontiers in sports and active living · 2024Article
- Carbon Fiber Insoles Enhance Perception of Performance Despite Variable Objective Outcomes: Specific to the Moderately Active Individual.International journal of exercise science · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
In an attempt to improve their distance-running performance, many athletes race with carbon fiber plates embedded in their shoe soles. Accordingly, we sought to establish whether, and if so how, adding carbon fiber plates to shoes soles reduces athlete aerobic energy expenditure during running (improves running economy). We tested 15 athletes as they ran at 3.5 m/s in four footwear conditions that varied in shoe sole bending stiffness, modified by carbon fiber plates. For each condition, we quantified athlete aerobic energy expenditure and performed biomechanical analyses, which included the use of ultrasonography to examine soleus muscle dynamics in vivo. Overall, increased footwear bending stiffness lengthened ground contact time (p = 0.048), but did not affect ankle (p ≥ 0.060), knee (p ≥ 0.128), or hip (p ≥ 0.076) joint angles or moments. Additionally, increased footwear bending stiffness did not affect muscle activity (all seven measured leg muscles (p ≥ 0.146)), soleus active muscle volume (p = 0.538; d = 0.241), or aerobic power (p = 0.458; d = 0.04) during running. Hence, footwear bending stiffness does not appear to alter the volume of aerobic energy consuming muscle in the soleus, or any other leg muscle, during running. Therefore, adding carbon fiber plates to shoe soles slightly alters whole-body and calf muscle biomechanics but may not improve running economy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.