In June I wrote about the fallacy of heel striking while running, and the mistaken belief that running shoes with thick, cushioned heels are a safe alternative to learning to run properly. A new study published by the Spaulding National Running Center at Harvard Medical School offers further evidence that cushioned running shoes actually put runners at a greater risk of injury. 14 healthy heel-striking runners ran on a treadmill in both highly cushioned and lightly cushioned shoes. Contrary to claims by manufacturers of cushioned running shoes, “the investigators found highly cushioned (HC) shoes result in a significantly higher vertical average load rate (VALR) and vertical instantaneous loading rate (VILR), both of which have been associated with overuse injuries such as tibial stress fractures and plantar fasciitis.”
