A study led by UF’s Heather Vincent found that runners wearing thick-heeled sneakers were more likely to get injured than those wearing flatter shoes. The team used data from more than 700 runners related to shoe type and injury history plus data about running gait acquired with specialized treadmills and motion capture videos.
The team found flatter shoes improved runners’ sensation of the ground, while shoes with thicker heels confused runners about their gait. That confusion was linked to injury. “Features like a large heel-to-toe drop make it more challenging for runners to identify how they’re striking the ground,” says Vincent. “The runners who correctly detected mid- or fore-foot striking had very different shoes: lower heel-to-toe drop; lighter; wider toe box.”
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