The main intent behind a runner having proper running footwear is to try to help prevent injuries and help them run more rapidly. The use of an inappropriate running shoe for a runner is regarded as to increase the possibility for an exercise related injury and help to make the running less efficient. Whereas if the most suitable running footwear was used then there's a lower chance for an overuse injury and also the athlete is more efficient in the way they run. There is lots of debate if the running shoe may actually make that happen or not. There is not a lot of science to support that and what little data there exists implies that it may not be a correct assumption that the running footwear might actually prevent exercise related injury. Different running shoe businesses have approached the matter or issue in different ways with each and every company providing up various methods with various amounts of success. There is an extremely wide range of running shoes on the market, with each and every manufacturer and model having different design characteristics which the running footwear shop ought to match them up to the requirements of the individual athlete.

Just over a year back, Nike produced the brand new Nike React Infinity running shoe with the impressive promises that it may decrease running injuries by 52% and they also had research to support that promise up. You've got to be careful making this sort of health claims about goods as they can be and also have been the reason behind a lawsuit as well as deals with the regulation authorities in the past. As of writing this, the research that supports the Nike claim hasn't been released for peer review and all which can be found is an abstract of the results of the study. The investigation was conducted by a university for Nike. The research separated 226 runners spanning various ages and abilities in to 2 different groups as they were training for a half marathon. Half of the runners used the Nike Structure that is a standard motion control running footwear and the other half ran in the new Nike React Infinity Run footwear. The results showed that athletes running in the React Infinity had a 52 percent reduced exercise related injury rate compared to those using the other running footwear. The wearers of the React Infinity in addition noted that they felt less pain in their knees and also the feet from the running. These results appear good, though the study does need to be put under greater inspection prior to it being blindly believed.

All of these points are repeatedly discussed and litigated in several places. An episode of the livestream, Pod Chat Live was focused on the above mentioned problems. In that show the 2 hosts (both runners) talked about the topic with Michael Nitschke who's a podiatric doctor, a good runner as well as a running coach. In a thread on the online community, Podiatry Arena, there is a lot of comments on the Nike promises about their Nike react reducing exercise related injury rates. Due to the wide range of different perspectives and viewpoints this is an dilemma that isn't likely to be sorted out in the near future.