Awesome to see the science catching up to what I’ve been preaching for a very long time! Wide toe box shoes for the WIN What are your thoughts on this study? Let me know in the comments

Did Nike validate a new running study with their release of the Apex? Researches tested identical shoes at different drops (same mass, foam, etc) And their conclusion was that zero drop was the most economical Heres a breakdown of the study & my personal thoughts: The Setup - 20 runners (mostly men) running at a steady pace (~8 mph) on a treadmill. They used custom versions of the same shoe model with fixed mass, changing only the drop 10 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm They measured how much energy the runners used along with ground reaction forces, joint angles/moments, and muscle behavior Key Findings - Higher drop = higher energy cost. Increasing drop raised net metabolic power (the energy required to run at that speed). Switching from a 20 mm drop to 0 mm reduced net metabolic power by about 1.6%. Running in the 30 mm drop shoes cost roughly ~2% more energy than the 0 mm shoes. Why Lower Drop Was More Efficient The biomechanical data suggested two main reasons: 1. Calf muscle length: Higher-drop shoes put the ankle in more plantarflexion (toes pointed down). This shortened the operating length of the medial gastroc (calf) muscle fascicles during ground contact. Shorter fascicle lengths are generally less economical. 2. Zero/lower drop kept the calf muscles longer and more efficient. Knee loading: Higher drop increased peak and average knee extension moments (more demand on the quadriceps/knee extensors). Lower drop reduced this. Higher drop also slightly lowered average vertical ground reaction force and changed ankle mechanics, but the net result was still higher energy cost. Their conclusion: Lower heel-toe drop (especially zero-drop) improved running economy under these controlled conditions. The body did not have to work as hard in zero-drop shoes compared with higher-drop versions of the same shoe. In practical terms, a ~1.6% improvement in running economy can theoretically save 1–3 minutes in a marathon. Effects on the Quads: Higher drop also increased knee extension moments (more demand on the quads). This added to the total energy cost. Lower drop reduced those knee moments, which further helped economy. So the net result is a trade-off: zero-drop shifts some mechanical demand onto the calves but does so in a way that lets them operate more efficiently and reduces demand higher up the chain at the knee. My thoughts: - 20 runners is not exactly enough test subjects, We need a much larger test group - treadmills are consistent, road running is not - 20mm & 30mm drop shoes are outrageous (much higher than ANY mainstream running shoe) - theoretically saving 1-3 minutes in a marathon is... a theory. Not the real world What surprised me: I've always been under the interpretation that lower drop shoes forced your feed & lower legs to work HARDER What I learned: - The calf muscles generate force most economically at certain fiber/fascicle lengths. (Ranges of motion) - There is an optimal region where the muscle can produce a given force with relatively low energy cost - When the fascicles operate at shorter lengths (like in higher-drop shoes), they move away from that efficient zone. This forces muscle must recruit more active contractile machinery to generate the same force, which raises the energy (ATP) cost per unit of force. When it applies to the Nike Apex (or similar shoes) In the comments under my original post, @Dragotto brought up a valid point: "max foam at 0mm = massive drop due to foam compression. So while running at pace and loading the shoe, the drop gets accounted for. It’s very different from a no-drop minimalist shoe." Brian is 100% right here, and this cannot be overlooked when it comes to these high-stack shoes I included a small clip of a video I posted to IG that discusses this including how these high stack shoes can even elicit a negative drop effect (which can wreak havoc on the achilles tendon & calf) Curious to hear all of your thoughts on this !!