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Can the recent sex-specific evolutions in elite running performances be attributed to advanced footwear technology?
Mason, Joel Starc, Laura Morin, Jean-Benoit McClelland, Emily L. Zech, Astrid
Mason, Joel
Starc, Laura
Morin, Jean-Benoit
McClelland, Emily L.
Zech, Astrid
Abstract
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.
Keywords
longitudinal bending stiffness, running economy, marathon, sprint, supershoes, sex differences, advanced footwear technology, track and field
Date
2024
Type
Journal article
Journal
Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Book
Volume
6
Issue
Page Range
1-8
Article Number
Article 1386627
ACU Department
School of Behavioural and Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access
Open
Notes
© 2024 Mason, Starc, Morin, McClelland and Zech. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.