Do Cushioned Running Shoes Cause Injuries?

One of the greatest challenges a runner has to tackle is avoiding injury whereby the main course of action in doing so is with running shoes with lots of cushioning, but given all the advancements in running shoe cushioning, running-related injuries continue to soar. This is because most runners land with a heel strike, which is the most force-intensive foot strike, and unfortunately these impacts were found to be enhanced with increased shoe cushioning!

In the video below, Christopher McDougall, author of Born to Run, demonstrates how the standard running shoe with a large cushioned raised heel increases impact and mechanical imbalances which contributes to injuries, such as knee damage and even lower back pain.

A fast-growing body of research (references below article) links heel strike running and the accompanying burst in collisional impact to directly causing injuries because this force exceeds the body’s natural dampening mechanism.

The burst in collisional impact at heel strike exposes the skeleton to greater force whereby past reports have directly linked this force to lower back pain as well as osteoarthritis! (click here to read to the evidence-backed reasons heel strike running causes physical, permanent damage to the lower back).

What’s worse, the standard running shoe was found to be an inadequate shock absorbent, reducing impact by only 10% in a heel strike landing.

A running shoes’ cushioned material also deteriorates over time, allowing more force to penetrate through the heel pad and up the leg and into the back in heel strike running:

even in a thickly cushioned running shoe, the burst of collisional impact at heel strike leads to soft tissue vibration, inducing swelling and pain

the body is comprised of viscoelastic structures that are sensitive to high, repetitive loading, leaving little time to adopt to the load generated at heel strike

The Take Home Message

Surprisingly, all these findings doesn’t mean you have to abandon your running shoes, but it does mean you should pick a running shoe that does not have more padding under the heel than the front of the shoe, instead, pick a running shoe where the heel and the toe-box are level. This type of construction is called a ‘zero-drop shoe‘, which means the front and back of the shoe are on the same plane, shown below:

How Meb Keflezighi’s Change in Foot Strike Helped Him Win The Boston Marathon — Above is an example of a zero-drop running shoe where there is no padding that elevates the heel higher than the front of the shoe. The shoes sole is flat, but still cushioned enough to take the sting out of stepping on rocks, acorns, roots, etc.

The clinical importance of running in a zero drop shoe is that it helps prevent heel strike, and instead, encourages a forefoot strike landing that does not produce a burst in collisional impact. The reason why a zero drop running shoe discourages heel strike is because the zero-drop sole makes you pull your heel back prior to landing, making it easier for an accurate forefoot strike (shown below). Therefore, correcting mechanical problems can be simplified with a zero drop running shoe.

Zero Drop Running Shoes Benefits — A zero drop running shoe renews your foots role in running by leveraging a low-impact forefoot strike instead of a high-impact heel strike. This is because the smaller the heel-cushioning, the more the back of the foot pulls back closer to under the hips at landing, while angling the front of the foot downwards towards the ground.

Another outstanding benefit of a zero-drop shoe is they are more wide and more flexible which produces a more capable, durable foot by making the foot work independently, making your feet functionally resilient. In fact, here are more reasons zero drop running shoes are justified as being the better option for promoting foot health and safer motor coordination than standard running shoes.

References:

Valiant, GA. Transmission and attenuation of heel strike accelerations. In: Cavanagh, PR. (Ed). Biomechanics of Distance Running. Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc. Campaign, Illinois, pp 225-47.

If you’ve enjoyed this blog post, you’ll love my YouTube Channel: here, where I discuss the health and performance benefits of barefoot running and I also have tons of video reviews of minimalist/barefoot-inspired running shoes suitable for forefoot running!

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