Has any heard data on the affect of cushioned shoes on knee problems?
Potentially.
Athletic Footwear, Leg Stiffness, and Running Kinematics. Journal of Athletic Training 2006;41(4):387–392
(taken from the actual study and NOT just the abstract)
Cushioned shoes are recommended for athletes to decrease impact forces at the heel or on the feet in general.35 Our data appear to indicate that these recommendations need to be tempered by the expectation that although direct impact forces on the heel or foot may decrease, limb stiffness may, in fact, increase. Robbins and Waked36 suggested that advertising of athletic footwear with regard to ‘‘cushion impact’’ may be deceptive because expensive athletic shoes accounted for more than twice as many injuries as cheaper shoes in their study. Recent authors37 tested subjects on a landing task and followed them longitudinally. Uninjured subjects had lower peak vertical ground reaction force values in the presence of similar knee-flexion ranges, indicating that they may have had less limb stiffness than subjects who were injured.37
When I replaced my shoes last fall, I bought a pair of Saucony shoes that had significantly more cushioning than my previous shoes (Brooks Trance). Less than 2 weeks after buying them, I was on the shelf with a knee problem. Thought it might have been a misstep along the way, so I took some time off, healed, and then tried them again. More knee problems, more time off. I replaced the shoes with some Asics Kayanos and haven’t had any problems.
So, in my experience, YES, the cushioned shoes caused knee problems.
I had all kinds of problems running before I transitioned to minimalist shoes. Now I run exclusively in Saucony A2s and though I’m still slow, I have no issues with shin splints, stress fractures, foot/knee/hip pain.
kayanos are enormously cushioned - it’s the most heavily built shoe they make … not sure it’s the cushioning that’s the issue … glad they work for you though.
I can tell you that I had the opposite situation. As a heavier athlete (192-198 lbs), I went with more cushion in my last purchase and have alleviated the knee problems I suffered last year. As I continue to work my way down to 180 lbs, I may try to move back down in cushioning and lighten up the shoes, but I will still be considered a “horse” by comparision to the fly-weights here on ST and may end up stiking with my heavier shoes. I’d rather run slow for a lot of years than risk longevity to pick up a couple places in the middle of the pack.
cushioned shoes dont necessary cause knee problems, but the type of cushion make affect your joints.
for example, asics cumuluses are pretty cushioned by are firm- no problems. nike vomeros are cushy but soft- felt comfortable initially but gave me hip pain even when walking for extended periods of time.
for most, its trial and error, when you find a shoe that works stick with it.
My (dull) outside knee pain went away after switching from the Asics Nimbus to the Mizuno Wave Rider 13. Also my ankles are not as sore after a long run. So for me, yes I have noticed less aches and pains with the less cushioned shoe.
I made the mistake of ripping a fast 10K off last year in the crappy Nike Air Zooms that I normally wear just kicking around home. Big mistake - I’m a heavy underpronator and that was the beginning of 6 weeks of excruciating ITB issues.
The upside was that I became much more educated about my gait, what shoe works for me (neutral, obviously), etc. In short, to answer your question, YES, shoe choice can seriously affect all of your muscles/joints when running, especially if you choose wrong.
It might not just be the cushioning. The Nimbus apparently has a little bit of a stability ‘feature’ to it that hit me in the knees when I tried a pair. When I went back to Cumuluses, my knees stopped hurting.
What’s your height to weight ratio?
tall and slim, how does that affect it?
As seems to be the trend for many–especially with Born to Run and the barefoot running movement-- I’ve been transitioning to shoes with less and less cushioning. I’ve been using Brook T6’s for most racing and training for the past year with good results.
The theory stated in the abstract–that the foot compensates for the cushioning–is an interesting explanation of why cushioned shoes may have limited benefit. Heavy, cushioned shoes can certainly restrict movement.
I’ve been doing all but my longest runs in racing flats for near a decade. the last few years I’ve started doing long runs in racing flats too.
All feels fine, no worries at all. I’ve got less achillies problems then I used to have, but I’m not saying that shoe choice alone is the cause of that.
All I look for now in a shoe is a thin but durable sole with not motion control.
I’m an “overpornator” according to everyone that has looked at my gait. Have had 3 different physios want to put me in orthotics.
Since I changed to racing flats and also done some exercises regularly, never had a run injury.
I wear the Nike Vomeros (2 pair now rotating) but now that I am running much more I am feeling a twinge here and there in the knee but definitely tight in the hips, not too mention the shoes are starting to feel as if they are on the heavier side.
If the Vomeros fit someone and they were comfortable with them and want to go to a less cushioned / lighter shoe, what would you recommend?
cushioned shoes dont necessary cause knee problems, but the type of cushion make affect your joints.
for example, asics cumuluses are pretty cushioned by are firm- no problems. nike vomeros are cushy but soft- felt comfortable initially but gave me hip pain even when walking for extended periods of time.
for most, its trial and error, when you find a shoe that works stick with it.
I’m an “overpornator” .
Best typo ever.
It’s too individual for meaningful aggregate data (i.e. the std. dev. is too large for the mean to be meaningful).
In general, a softer shoe allows for more joint motion (ex. pronation), but also provides more cushioning. Depending on your specific issues, trading cushioning for stability might make things better of worse. For an overpronator too much cushioning will allow excessive lateral knee motion and cause problems. For an underpronator (like me) who has almost knee motion (the motion does help absorb shock), needs all the cushioning they can get. I have been known to pop the air soles of my Nikes to soften them up.