A new study from the University of Massachusetts Amherst shows that advanced footwear technology (AFT) spikes, also known as super spikes, can improve runners’ speeds by about 2% in middle-distance track races like the 800 and 1,500 meters.
The research, published on the bioRxiv preprint server, comes just in time for the track and field events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, starting August 1.
“Track athletes began using super spikes about five years ago, and now they are common in elite track races,” says Wouter Hoogkamer, an assistant professor of kinesiology at UMass Amherst and the study’s senior author.
Super spikes feature a thicker yet lighter, more resilient midsole often combined with a stiff carbon-fiber plate, explains Montgomery Bertschy, a doctoral student in Hoogkamer’s lab and joint first author of the paper.
Over the past five years, many track records have been broken, and this trend is expected to continue at the Olympics. Some credit these record-breaking performances to advancements in spike technology. However, it was unclear whether the spikes were genuinely making athletes faster or if other factors, such as improved training and better tracks, were responsible.
To investigate, Hoogkamer assembled an international team of researchers, including Ethan Wilkie from the University of New Brunswick in Canada and Victor Rodrigo-Carranza from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain. The team conducted experiments comparing various designs of super spikes with traditional track spikes, which are lightweight with minimal cushioning and no added stiffness elements.
The results showed that different super spikes improved running speeds by about 2%, with improvements ranging from 1.8% to 3.1%. This improvement could significantly influence Olympic competition, where even a 0.5% difference in race times can determine who wins a medal.
“We’re showing that shoes matter, and particularly that some brands’ spikes perform better than others,” says Wilkie. “Our 2% findings highlight that some people may have slightly better shoes, which can make a big difference in races.”
While most Olympic athletes will use super spikes, it’s important to note that not all super spikes are created equal. The final experiment of the study evaluated commercially available shoes. The PUMA evoSPEED LD Nitro Elite+ and Nike ZoomX Dragonfly showed significant speed improvements of about 2%, while a third brand only showed a 1% improvement, not statistically better than traditional spikes.
The researchers found that super spikes help runners take longer steps rather than faster ones. In a 1,500m race, participants wearing super spikes took 17 to 21 fewer steps compared to those in traditional spikes.
Hoogkamer envisions this new method’s potential for future innovations. Different brands can now use this protocol to evaluate their spikes and find the best option for specific distances or athletes with different strengths, weights, or speeds.
For non-Olympians, this study highlights that while athletes are training harder, the improvements in shoe technology also play a significant role in breaking records. The forthcoming paper has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Sport and Health Science.
Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst.
