The Monday Shakeout: Biomechanical Effects of Maximal Shoes (Literature Review)

The Monday Shakeout: Biomechanical Effects of Maximal Shoes
By Matthew Klein

This week, Matt reviews a research article that summarizes the current literature on maximal shoes. While there is a ton of variety in maximal shoe design, there are some key features that may be helpful when runners are trying to make decisions about what stack height is right for them.

Hoka launched the first recognizable maximal shoe, the Mafate, in 2009/2010. Over the last 16 years, we have seen the entire industry shift from a more minimalist lean, at that time, to a massive maximalist lean now. Stack heights are towering above what they used to be, and almost every traditional training shoe series from all the major companies are maximal shoes now. One of the many beliefs, pushed extensively by marketers, was that these shoes provided more protection than traditional footwear. Some of the concerns included the shoes being less stable due to increased cushioning underfoot. While evidence has come out to support or refute many of the claims around maximal footwear, a large systematic review and meta-analysis was done recently reviewing a great deal of currently available research on this subject by Xia et al. (2025).

This review focused specifically on comparisons between maximal shoes, conventional footwear and minimal shoes. Super shoes (or AFT as they are commonly known in the literature) were not included. Of many studies, 14 were included in the final review. Almost all the studies are ones that we at Doctors of Running have cited before and their data culmination is well worth talking about.

Highlights of the Research

When integrating all the data, one of the most interesting parts of this paper was that comparing the impact peaks, maximal footwear had the highest levels compared to conventional and minimal footwear. Although this may seem surprising to readers, we have discussed this extensively, with Kulmala et al.'s (2018) landmark study (that was included in this review) demonstrating that people land harder in maximal shoes compared to other conditions. This may be due to impaired proprioception and kinesthesia (body and motion awareness) from the taller stack heights, causing people to land harder. This is in contrast to minimal footwear where the decreased protection causes a protective response in most (but not all) people to land softer. Vertical average loading rate, or the average of the speed of forces applied during loading in the vertical axis, was lower in maximal and conventional shoes compared to minimal shoes, which makes sense given the complete lack of protection and direct impact.

Surprisingly, many other kinetic (force) variables were not that different between the three conditions. Minimal shoes had lower values for many force variables, but care should be taken with interpreting this as many of these forces are measured between the force plates and the shoe, not between the shoe and the foot. This isn't unexpected, as people land much softer in minimal shoes (usually) to compensate for the naturally higher forces associated with a lack of cushion and increased proprioceptive/kinesthetic input. This is NOT necessarily a good thing, as it requires the person to have adequate foot/ankle strength, proprioception, power and range of motion to adequately attenuate these forces. Injury rates have NOT been found to be significantly different between these shoe types. Rather, injury locations are more likely to be different and different types of runners have varying risks in each of them.

Reflection

An interesting concept specific to what I often look at (stability) is that foot eversion (part of pronation) tended to be less in maximal shoes compared to the other types. This obviously will depend on the maximal footwear, as there are several out there that are non-traditional, ie no sidewalls, narrow, etc. Traditional maximal shoes are wide, have tall sidewalls, and generally feature components we consider "stable neutral." This confirms our suspicions that these components may create added guidance and that these may be options in a time when stability shoes are disappearing (we do have a few new ones in 2026, so I will stop complaining about this for this year at least).

This article suggests what we already know. Maximal shoes may not be as protective as promoted. While they are comfortable, people tend to land harder in them, likely due to the decreased ground feel and lack of a protective response. This does NOT mean they have higher or even different injury rates, as this article did not look at that. It may suggest that traditional shoes may help with guidance of the foot but that impact forces are still present. They are likely absorbed differently compared to other shoe types, so smart training, adequate recovery, and strength training are important concepts regardless of the footwear type you use to manage forces and reduce injury risk.

References

Kulmala, J. P., Kosonen, J., Nurminen, J., & Avela, J. (2018). Running in highly cushioned shoes increases leg stiffness and amplifies impact loading. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 1-7.

Xia, Z., Gao, Z., Li, W., Hu, C., Fekete, G., Liang, M., & Gu, Y. (2025). Biomechanical effects of maximal footwear on running: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Footwear Science, 1-16.

PAST MONDAY SHAKEOUTS

The Shoes I Raced in for 2025
Reflections on 2026
Shoes for Ultramarathons?
Super Shoes for Recovery Runs?
Do "Illegal" Racing Shoes Matter for Recreational Runners?
Long-Term Care for Aging Runners
What is the Best Running Form?
Running-Related Injuries

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