Impact of advanced footwear technology on critical speed and performance in elite runners

Rodrigo-Carranza, Víctor; González-Mohíno, Fernando; Casado, Arturo; Santos-Concejero, Jordan; Galán-Rioja, Miguel Ángel

doi:10.1080/19424280.2022.2164624

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…I performed two types of experimental designs to address the objectives. With respect to the first objective, I performed four longitudinal, observational and retrospective studies 1–4. Data were collected from the top 100 male performances in 10k, half marathon and marathon from the World Athletics public database (https://worldathletics.org) in the years before the launch of AFT (2015–2016) and post-launch (2017–2019) to evaluate the impact (time performance improvement) that AFT had in the main long-distance events.…”

Section: How Did I Do It?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Running footwear matters: decoding the influence of running shoe characteristics on physiology, biomechanics and running performance (PhD Academy Award)

Rodrigo Carranza

2023

Br J Sports Med

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Section: How Did I Do It?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…My PhD thesis demonstrated that AFT improved the performance of the top 100 runners in 10 k, half marathon and marathon,1–3 also improving the critical speed,4 however, it did not equally improve the performance of all runners 1 7. Based on my PhD research I recommend:…”

Section: Practical Application?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Running footwear matters: decoding the influence of running shoe characteristics on physiology, biomechanics and running performance (PhD Academy Award)

Rodrigo Carranza

2023

Br J Sports Med

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“…However, we argue that these factors do not entirely explain the imbalance in sex-representation in AFT research over the last six years. For example, there are multiple publications which elected to analyse males only despite using freely available race data that may be equally accessible for both sexes ( 5 , 6 , 36 ). While research in AFT exclusively focusing on male data might be seen as recognition of sex-related variables influencing outcomes, the scarcity of equivalent studies in females represents a major (and familiar) barrier to further insight, innovation and progress.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Mason,

Starc,

Morin

et al. 2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Recent improvements in elite running performances across all distances have been largely attributed to the introduction of advanced footwear technology (AFT), which features a curved and stiff plate working synergistically with a new generation of midsole foams demonstrating enhanced resilience and compliance. These recent improvements appear to be considerably more pronounced in women's events, highlighted by improvements in road racing world records by an average of 3.7% (range: 2.6%–5.2%) compared to mean progressions of 1.5% (range: 1.3%–1.9%) in the same men's events. Although there is a growing body of research investigating the mechanisms underpinning running performance enhancements derived from AFT, there remains no explanation for potential sex-based differences in their benefits. We overview the currently available evidence and highlight why the recent direction of AFT research provides a barrier to progress by focusing primarily on male athletes. We subsequently provide our perspective on why women may be benefiting from the new generation of shoes more than men, suggest potential mechanisms leading to hypotheses that need to be further investigated in upcoming studies, and finally propose that factors outside of footwear innovation may have concurrently driven the recently observed performance evolutions.

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“…Advanced footwear technology (AFT) such a s the "Vaporfly" series of Nike or similar shoe models of other companies is characterized by a very light shoe mass, a curved carbon fiber plate embedded in the midsole to increase the longitudinal bending stiffness (LBS), along with more resilient and compliant midsole foams to provide cushioning and energy return. It is known that the amount of cushioning material in the shoe, 1,2 and the increase of LBS with a curved carbon fiber plate can influence running economy (RE) 3,4 and performance [5][6][7] accompanied by slight biomechanical changes. 3,4 AFT usually use different methodologies to increase the LBS (full or partial and flat or curved carbon fiber plate) and different midsole cushioning technologies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of different midsole foam in advanced footwear technology use on running economy and biomechanics in trained runners

Rodrigo‐Carranza,

Hoogkamer,

González‐Ravé

et al. 2023

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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BackgroundEthylene and vinyl acetate (EVA) and polyether block amide (PEBA) are recently the most widely used materials for advanced footwear technology (AFT) that has been shown to improve running economy (RE). This study investigated the effects of these midsole materials on RE and biomechanics, in both fresh and worn state (after 450 km).MethodsTwenty‐two male trained runners participated in this study. Subjects ran four 4‐min trials at 13 km‧h−1 with both fresh EVA and PEBA AFT and with the same models with 450 km of wear using a randomized crossover experimental design. We measured energy cost of running (W/kg), spatiotemporal, and neuromuscular parameters.ResultsThere were significant differences in RE between conditions (p = 0.01; n2 = 0.17).There was a significant increase in energy cost in the worn PEBA condition compared with new (15.21 ± 1.01 and 14.87 ± 0.99 W/kg; p < 0.05; ES = 0.54), without differences between worn EVA (15.13 ± 1.14 W/kg; p > 0.05), and new EVA (15.15 ± 1.13 w/kg; ES = 0.02). The increase in energy cost between new and worn was significantly higher for the PEBA shoes (0.32 ± 0.38 W/kg) but without significant increase for the EVA shoes (0.06 ± 0.58 W/kg) (p < 0.01; ES = 0.51) with changes in step frequency and step length. The new PEBA shoes had lower energy cost than the new EVA shoes (p < 0.05; ES = 0.27) with significant differences between conditions in contact time.ConclusionThere is a clear RE advantage of incorporating PEBA versus EVA in an AFT when the models are new. However, after 450 km of use, the PEBA and EVA shoes had similar RE.

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Impact of advanced footwear technology on critical speed and performance in elite runners

Cited by 7 publications

References 47 publications

Running footwear matters: decoding the influence of running shoe characteristics on physiology, biomechanics and running performance (PhD Academy Award)

Running footwear matters: decoding the influence of running shoe characteristics on physiology, biomechanics and running performance (PhD Academy Award)

Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?

Influence of different midsole foam in advanced footwear technology use on running economy and biomechanics in trained runners

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