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While adding carbon plates to shoes may sound like a modern practice, it has actually been around since at least the 1990s. Back then, Reebok attempted it, but the creation of the Nike Vaporfly 4% brought this technology to a larger audience when these "super shoes" made an appearance in the 2016 Olympics. Promising a 4% performance improvement, carbon-plated running shoes became available to everyone starting in 2017.
Nowadays, many companies produce carbon-plated running shoes that promise a lightweight, supportive feel. However, they can be pricey. To find out whether they're worth it and which brands you should try, we asked three experts for their takes.
What are carbon-plated running shoes? Matt Dustin, a certified precision nutrition coach and NASM corrective exercise specialist, explains, "Carbon-plated running shoes have a stiff, thin carbon fiber plate in their midsole." He says the plate can help with energy return and make your strides more efficient. Put another way, Engineering.
com says that a carbon plate "acts as a lever to effectively roll the foot forward through the force developed by the leg muscle." Carbon-plated shoes may also help runners run faster and experience less fatigue, according to Kaleigh Ray, staff writer at Treadmill Review Guru and certified exercise physiologist (ACSM). Ray holds a master's degree in biomechanics from the University of Northern Colorado, where her research focus was on carbon-plated shoes and running shoe construction.
Explaining the history of the shoe, she notes that carbon plates were first introduced to trail shoes to reduce the feel of rocks underfoot. However, she says, "The current trend of carbon-plated shoes comes from marathon racing shoes." The best carbon-plated running shoes Ray says most running shoe brands have a quality carbon-plated running shoe.
Some are geared toward racing, while others are designed for daily training. Ray adds, "I've raced in the Altra Vanish Carbon, and I'm running..
. Lara Vukelich.
