Can these new super-trainers help you to run faster?

Some have carbon-plated soles, others are flared-heel or ‘cloud’-podded - trainers have never been so technical, but do we really need them?

Fitness as we know it is rapidly changing with the introduction of super-trainers built on the latest in technology including carbon plates.

A decade ago, celebrities including Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow along with every other woman at the school gates could be clocked teetering on ludicrous-looking rocker-soled MBT trainers. I was one of them, sold on the claim that the Masai Barefoot Technology would help me to emulate the walking stride of the tribespeople - supposedly, by exercising superficial muscles in the legs and buttocks, MBT would deliver toned calf muscles, less back pain and better posture.

On the fast-moving conveyor belt of trainer trends, it was no surprise that they fell out of favour after studies questioned whether the chunky shoes were any better for relieving lower back pain than a regular pair. A stride behind them came FitFlops, “the shoe with the built-in gym”, also designed to tone your calf muscles as you walked, then barefoot trainers such as the ridiculously minimalist Vibram FiveFingers, rubberised gloves for the feet that were said to encourage natural movement, but which physiotherapists said left wearers prone to injury.

Now we find ourselves wearing “maximalist” cushioned shoes designed to enhance stability and protect joints. Hoka One One - as spotted on Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz - was among the brands that led the vogue for flared heels, while the Swiss company On’s distinctive “cloud"-podded outsole trainers - fans of which include the model Gisele Bundchen, the actress Zendaya and the Princess of Wales - drew queues to its flagship Regent Street store. Alternatively, there are “super-shoes” that promise athletic speed, such as the Nike Vaporfly, and come with embedded carbon-fibre plates for added propulsion. But will any of these really make a difference to your daily walk or jog?

Certainly, advances in shoe technology don’t seem to have produced a downward trend in injuries, suggesting that for all the fancy cushioning, trainers won’t protect your hips, knees and ankles. A Cochrane review of 12 published trials involving more than 10,000 runners found “no reduction in lower-limb running injuries in adults when comparing different types of running shoes”. And one of a series of trainer studies presented at the recent American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting found that, for non-elites, wearing an ordinary running shoe led to greater improvements in running economy - a measure of how efficiently the body uses oxygen, considered a predictor for endurance performance - than the new breed of super-shoe.

Dr Ceri Diss, a former international runner and a senior lecturer in biomechanics at the University of Roehampton, has spent her career investigating the attributes of trendy trainers and testing whether claims made by manufacturers live up to scientific scrutiny. Her take on the shoe market is that most miracle claims about products are not relevant to the average person.

“We know that some shoes do help elite runners to move more quickly, but they won’t work for everyone else,” Diss says. “Despite the claims, there is no single shoe, no magic bullet technology, that is going to prevent injuries, make you run faster and improve your posture and technique.”

Under Armour's SpeedForm Record-Equipped running shoes have a sensor that records and stores running metrics so the wearer knows what is needed to improve performance.

SO WHAT CAN SHOE SCIENCE TELL US?

A cushioned foam sole will absorb some of the impact of running, but they won’t fully protect against poor technique or the hammering your joints get if you are overweight. “Trainers reduce ground force by 1-2 per cent,” Diss says. “But there’s a massive impact force with every running stride which starts at the achilles tendon in the heel and will travel up the calf to the knees and hips regardless of how cushioned your footwear.”

In last year’s Cochrane review the researchers reported that wearing cushioned shoes made little or no difference to the number of runners sustaining a lower-limb running injury when compared with minimalist shoes. Counterintuitively, as a six-week study of runners at Oregon State University found, too much cushioning can alter your running mechanics. “A shoe with too much cushioning can alter your natural spring-like running mechanics,” says the sports physiotherapist Paul Hobrough, the author of Running Free of Injuries. “This can disrupt the body’s in-built shock absorbency so that there’s more impact on your joints, especially if you run fast.”

Can a shoe improve posture?

Curved soled shoes including MBTs are making a comeback, but don’t expect them to improve your posture or protect your joints. “They are designed to make you unstable and the theory is that this will force you to recruit so-called postural muscles,” Diss says. “However, they can actually do the opposite and increase pressure on the hips and knees with no convincing evidence that they help with posture or back and joint pain.”

Will carbon super-shoes make your Parkrun faster?

As much as you might hope to post a personal best time if you have spent pounds 200 or more in a pair of super-shoes, there is not a direct return for investment when it comes to speed. “If you run slower than about eight minutes per mile, or five minutes per kilometre, they simply won’t work,” Diss says. As you strike the ground, the plantar fascia underneath your foot splays to the toes and then springs back to propel the body upwards in preparation for the next stride. “There is a split-second transition when your body stops going downwards and is projected into the air and the harder you squash the plantar fascia at this point, the greater the propulsion.

“Carbon plates in shoes act in the same way: the more force applied to the carbon, the greater the forward and upward propulsion.” For non-elites, the point at which they grunt is the point at which the body sinks and prepares to be projected forwards. “The shoes are highly effective for fast runners and have been shown to shave off one second per kilometre, which would be a significant 42 seconds in a marathon,” Diss says. “But if you are only squashing the carbon plate a little bit as you would if running slower than eight minutes per mile, the shoe will not make you run any faster than usual.”

SHOULD YOU WEAR SUPER-SHOES EVERY TIME YOU RUN?

If you do invest in a carbon-plated trainer, the consensus is to save them for “speedy” running days. Some studies on recreational runners have suggested that the super-shoes force people to change their technique. “Runners feet naturally strike the ground in different ways and if you are a heel-striker, these shoes tend to propel you onto your forefoot more than usual,” Diss says. “A lot of natural rear-foot strikers experience calf and achilles pain if they wear them too often.”

A small pilot study presented by exercise scientists from California State University at the ACSM conference looked at runners who wore a regular lightweight trainer or a carbon-plated super-shoe for eight weeks, during which time the researchers assessed any changes in their efficiency. By the end of the trial, those wearing the regular shoes had improved their running economy by 5.6 per cent compared with just a 1 per cent increase in the carbon-plated footwear, although they also complained more about sore, aching feet. “These fast shoes are extremely lightweight and offer little in the way of upper support,” Diss says. “They are not designed to be worn as you would a regular trainer, and while some people might get away with it, it’s probably not worth the risk.”

Experts say carbon-plated trainers should only be used for ‘speedy’ days and not general use.

DO YOU NEED A TRAINER WITH PRONATION CONTROL?

As a foot strikes the ground it typically rolls about 15 per cent inwards, flattening the arch of your foot to keep ankles and lower leg in alignment and to prepare for the next step. This is known as neutral pronation. “Only if you pronate more than that might you need a stability shoe,” Diss says. “A warning sign is if a picture of you running shows your ankle bulging inwards as it absorbs impact, although the issue is less common than many people think.”

IS BAREFOOT BETTER?

A trend for wearing minimally cushioned trainers or ditching shoes was supposed to help strengthen underused muscles in the feet, ankles and lower leg that had lain dormant as a result of habitual shoe-wearing. Its premise was sound: studies showed that in habitually barefoot populations, people run differently, landing more softly on the forefoot or midfoot rather than their heels and generating far less impact. In theory, that would mean fewer injuries.

Yet problems arose, though, when people transitioned too quickly from wearing cushioned shoes to none. This created injuries such as damaged foot bones and issues with the soles of the feet. Runners suffered no fewer injuries overall, but experienced greater discomfort than runners wearing comfortable trainers.

Benefits seem to come from variety. A report in the European Journal of Sports Science found that runners who gradually introduced minimalist, low (but not zero) cushioned shoes into no more than 35 per cent of their weekly runs developed better strength in their calves and in stabilising muscles of the feet. “Going barefoot around the house is helpful for developing foot strength,” Hobrough says. “And experimenting with minimalist shoes through gradual introduction can be helpful for some, but running barefoot is not recommended for most people.”

Smartwatches including Garmins have become a popular accessory for runners to sync up their data.

SHOULD YOU HAVE YOUR GAIT ANALYSED?

Visit a specialist running shop and you are likely to be asked to stand and run on a pressure plate. Gait analysis is supposed to help you to select trainers tailored to your needs, but is it necessary? In the Cochrane review researchers found “no evidence that prescribing footwear based on foot type reduces running-related lower-limb injuries”, but Hobrough believes that if performed properly, extensive gait assessments carried out by physiotherapists can be helpful in avoiding injury.

“Systems such as Phits offer a 3D scan of the foot to capture the biomechanics of the foot walking, standing, balancing and running and provides feedback in relation to the rest of the body,” he says. “Video analysis creates a prescription for conditioning programmes and orthotic insoles if they are needed - and these in-depth approaches are very different to hopping on a treadmill in a shop.”

THE TIMES