The Maximalist Mirage: Is More Cushioning Better?

In response to the minimalist shoe trend in the early 2000s, the Maximalist shoe was introduced by Hoka and the phenomenon took off around 2011. With midsoles in shoes that originally looked obscenely large and wonky for the average everyday consumer, took off first in the ultrarunning community, and the appeal quickly spread to other runners and the public at large. Current shoe trends are slowly reverting back to the mean in 2026, with more focus currently on the development of better foams in the midsole to optimize energy return, especially in racing shoes.

Most athletes and providers remain under the assumption that shoes with more cushion are better for reducing injury risk and enhancing recovery. Is it that simple, or is the answer more nuanced? Let’s go through what the research says are the pros and cons of more cushioning.

Figure 1. The original Hoka Clifton (left) from 2014¹³ and the new Hoka Clifton 11 (right) releasing in July 2026¹⁴. In this classic training model, stack height has only increased over time (from 29cm to now 42cm)

A. The Effect of Highly Cushioned Shoes: Does the Data Reveal the Full Picture?

One area of interest to sports medicine health providers and researchers is how shoes with greater cushioning affects measurable variables such as loading rates (how fast a force is applies to the musculoskeletal system) and ground reactive forces (how much force the ground pushes up against the musculoskeletal system with each step), and research in this area appears to be mixed.

One 2025 study evaluating the impact of highly cushioned shoes on different gait parameters in 12 female runners when walking vs. running found that female runners had a decrease in peak vertical impact forces and average loading rates by 12% and 11% respectively when running in highly cushioned shoes as compared to when they were running in minimalist shoes¹².

On the contrary, in a 2023 study evaluating the same parameters between 41 runners using soft soled vs stiff soled shoes, they found that there was a decrease in vertical impact peak forces in runners when wearing stiff soles. This finding was somewhat surprising considering a previous randomized controlled trial by the same authors in 2020 consisting of 848 runners who found that those running in hard-soled shoes did have a higher injury risk¹. This risk, however, was found to be negated once they stratified participants based on weight. This means that heavier runners did not experience any change in injury risk when wearing highly cushioned shoes, whereas lighter runners did. So, since runners had a higher injury risk in hard soled shoes despite exhibiting a decrease in vertical impact forces, they concluded that the reason they likely had more injuries was due to other data points they found in their 2023 study: higher work and power being exhibited around the ankle and hip, which they attributed to the increased stiffness of the shoe.

We also see that this trend of shoes with more cushion creating more forces when landing becomes amplified when running at faster speeds. In a 2018 study including 12 men running at two set speeds, 10 km/hr and 14.5km/hr, wearing conventional running shoes in one setting and maximalist running shoes in a different setting, they found that the ground reaction force impact peak and average loading rate were 10% and 12% greater respectively when running at the faster speed setting using the maximalist shoes¹⁵. These data points were greater than when running at only 10km/hr (GRF of 6.4%). The proposed theory is that when running at faster speeds with greater cushion under your feet, the amateur athlete unconsciously lands with a stiffer leg because they are not forced to subconsciously adjust their landing position in an advantageous way since the extra cushion will take the brunt of the force when they hit the pavement.

Figure 2. Comparison of Impact Peak Forces and Average Loading Rates at different running speeds in a Conventional (Brooks Ghost 6) vs. Maximalist (the now retired Hoka Conquest) running shoes¹⁵

So, what are the take home points you should take from all of this nerdy scientific chatter?

On one hand, the data doesn’t always tell the full story. While some values pointing in one direction may seem to imply a certain outcome, they may not. Intuitively we know that landing with less force rather than more force is preferred, but injury rates by in large are rather stagnant and all runners are affected by them (one of my many great accepted realities: runners get injured).

At the same time, running at faster speeds up to the level of a sprint is an especially taxing activity with increased injury risk the harder you run, and lessening the impact you are experiencing during that activity is important. Additionally, having greater awareness of what your feet are doing and feeling when running fast is important to prevent any trips or spontaneous ankle sprains when running at top speeds, which can potentially be worsened when running in maximalist shoes (a topic to be touched on further shortly).

B. The Body Will Absorb What the Shoes Don’t

Have you ever gone for a run that was primarily on the road, where you feel like you’re bouncing along without any fatigue, and then all of a sudden you run for ½ mile in the grass, and suddenly you feel like you’re dragging through the mud, having to exert more energy to get that same “bounce” back in your stride?

This mechanism whereby the leg becomes more or less stiff in response to the type of surface it is landing on when running was first established by Ferris et al in 1998². They found that when running on softer or more compliant surfaces, the leg will stiffen to compensate for the lack of recoil that the runner will usually experience when running on the road for example, which is harder or less compliant and requires minimal leg stiffness in comparison to propulse itself off the ground.

Figure 3. An inverse correlation was seen by Ferris et al between surface stiffness and leg stiffness when running²

This phenomenon is the same that is seen when running in shoes with midsoles that are harder or softer. When the midsole is softer like a marshmallow and you feel yourself sink into the ground before pushing off the ground, something has to do the work of the pushing, and that something is your muscles and tendons.

In a 2024 randomized controlled trial evaluating gastrocnemius muscle activation in 10 forefoot strikers and 10 rearfoot strikers, the forefoot strikers were found to have higher calf muscle activation late in the swing phase, which reflected the lower leg stiffening as it prepares for the increased demand at the time of foot strike⁴.

Fascinatingly, this data has been found to translate to actual morphological changes of the tendons that are primarily being recruited over time. One 2021 prospective study involved taking 14 male runners and having them run two different trials of 3 mins at 12km/hr wearing shoes for one session and being barefoot for the other session⁵. The researchers used ultrasound to collect measurements of several large tendons in the lower extremities and calculated lower limb stiffness before and after the running sessions. When running barefoot, the runners were found to have a positive correlation between lower limb stiffness and cross-sectional area of the achilles tendon and plantar fascia. When running wearing shoes, they had a positive correlation between lower limb stiffness and cross-sectional area of the patellar tendon. This shows that the tendons of the legs and feet will adapt to the functional demands that they’re placed under, which when barefoot is most prominently the achilles tendon and plantar fascia, and when wearing shoes, commonly the patellar tendon (presumably) due to increased prevalence of overstriding (and therefore knee extension) while running with shoes.

This is all relevant because if you’re getting increased stiffness in the achilles tendon brought on by increased running in shoes with soft midsoles, by running a high amount of volume on soft surfaces or by doing speed work on soft surfaces when the achilles tendon and calf muscle complex have not been adequately prepared for the increased load and demand, there will be an increase in injury risk³. The following sequence looks like this:

Running with soft shoe midsole or on soft surface➡️ Neuromuscular system detects need for increased activation ➡️ Increases pre-activation of gastrocnemius & soleus muscles➡️ Leg stiffens ➡️ Greater Achilles tendon loading each foot strike ➡️ Elevated injury risk under repetitive loading

With all that being said, many high-level runners perform well with none of the following injury concerns as a result of gradual load progression over time while employing the following training methods in a systematic manner.

C. Maximalist Shoes in Young Athletes

Despite the increased prevalence among mainstream daily trainers across the board from Brooks to Asics to Nike, shoes with increased stack height (i.e. more cushion) have negative consequences in developing aged runners in middle and high school. There is a large amount of research now supporting the fact that shoes with thicker soles will limit somatosensory feedback that the individual receives from their feet, leading to reduced postural stability, decreased ankle stability, and breakdown of proper gait patterns^6,7. This decrease in somatosensory feedback also leads to a decrease in intrinsic muscle strengthening. Several studies have shown an increase in cross-sectional area in different intrinsic muscles of the feet as well as an increase in the longitudinal plantar arch when transitioning from conventional to minimalist footwear^8,9, which is especially true kids while they still have a flexible foot that is readily able to adapt¹⁰.

The goal for kids should be trying to find a shoe that runs in the middle when it comes to stack height and compliance, and helping them with basic, general strength training for the lower extremities to help prepare their bodies for the demands of running to hopefully limit injury risk regardless of the shoe they’re wearing or surface they’re running on.

D. At the End of The Day, What Matters Most

There is a lot of data and information to extrapolate from research that can help you choose what shoes to wear, in theory. But our mind doesn’t work in theory, and we don’t have an internal computer to analyze for us which shoes are allowing us to run more efficiently and with lower loading forces from one to the next. Thankfully we don’t need to, and just maybe, our perception of what’s best is what matters most.

A recent 2025 study assessed if there was any validity to “The Comfort Filter”, a proposed theory stating that runners intuitively select shoes based on comfort that will allow them to naturally run more efficiently and comparing that perception of comfort with injury risk. In the analysis of a randomized controlled trial consisting of 527 runners tracked over the course of 6 months, what they found was that runners that had the highest perception of comfort in their shoes ended up having the lowest rate of injury within the group¹¹.  This might help explain certain phenomenon that are not clearly understood in the research, like why some people might experience relief in their plantar fascia symptoms wearing highly cushioned shoes despite there being no difference in average loading rates or peak impact forces when walking compared to those wearing less cushioned shoes¹².

At the end of the day, comfort is king, no matter how much data I try to throw in the face of it. Use all of the included information to help guide your judgement in shoe selection and training but let comfort have the final say.

Summary:

• Soft-soled shoes are linked to higher average loading rates and peak impact forces compared to hard-soled shoes. This phenomenon is exacerbated as running speed increases.

• Despite the increase in force values seen with soft-soled shoes, increased work through ankle range of motion and hip extension as well as injury rates have been seen in runners wearing hard-soled shoes.

• When stratified by weight, soft-soled shoes were only found to have helped limit injury risk in lighter runners.

• Running on softer surfaces or in a shoe with a softer midsole will increase soft tissue stiffness in the lower leg to help account for the decreased compliance or “give” of the surface that the vertical forces are being driven into (either in your shoe or on the ground) while running. This can increase injury risk to the achilles tendon and/or gastrosoleus complex through repetitive loading if the following muscles or tendons are not adequately prepared for the increased loading.

• Maximalist shoes can limit somatosensory feedback due to a greater decrease in contact of the foot from the ground. This can lead to intrinsic muscle weakness and a decrease in proprioception, potentially leading to instability in the foot, ankle, and pelvis. The following are important especially to kids as they mature physically and through their development of proper movement patterns.

• Those that have higher perceived comfort in their shoes tend to have lower injury risks, highlighting the importance of comfort in guiding your shoe selection over any other factors.

• References:
  1. Malisoux L, Gette P, Backes A, Delattre N, Theisen D. Lower impact forces but greater burden for the musculoskeletal system in running shoes with greater cushioning stiffness. Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Feb;23(2):210-220. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2021.2023655. Epub 2022 Jan 19. PMID: 35014593.
  2. Ferris DP, Louie M, Farley CT. Running in the real world: adjusting leg stiffness for different surfaces. Proc Biol Sci. 1998 Jun 7;265(1400):989-94. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0388. PMID: 9675909; PMCID: PMC1689165
  3. Lorimer, A.V., Hume, P.A. Stiffness as a Risk Factor for Achilles Tendon Injury in Running Athletes. Sports Med46, 1921–1938 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0526-9
  4. Liu, Y., & Fernandez, J. (2024). Randomized Controlled Trial of Gastrocnemius Muscle Analysis Using Surface Electromyography and Ultrasound in Different Striking Patterns of Young Women’s Barefoot Running. Physical Activity and Health, 8(1), pp. 223–233.
  5. Rubio-Peirotén A, García-Pinillos F, Jaén-Carrillo D, Cartón-Llorente A, Abat F, Roche-Seruendo LE. Relationship between Connective Tissue Morphology and Lower-Limb Stiffness in Endurance Runners. A Prospective Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 10;18(16):8453. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18168453. PMID: 34444202; PMCID: PMC8391394.
  6. K. Ramanathan, E.J. Parish, G.P. Arnold, T.S. Drew, W. Wang, R.J. Abboud, The influence of shoe sole’s varying thickness on lower limb muscle activity, Foot and Ankle Surgery, Volume 17, Issue 4, 2011, Pages 218-223, ISSN 1268-7731
  7. Park JH, Benson RF, Morgan KD, Matharu R, Block HJ. Balance effects of tactile stimulation at the foot. Hum Mov Sci. 2023 Feb;87:103024. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2022.103024. Epub 2022 Nov 9. PMID: 36370618.
  8. Holowka, N.B., Wallace, I.J. & Lieberman, D.E. Foot strength and stiffness are related to footwear use in a comparison of minimally- vs. conventionally-shod populations. Sci Rep8, 3679 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21916-7
  9. Xu, Jennifer, et al. “The Effects of Minimalist Shoes on Plantar Intrinsic Foot Muscle Size and Strength: A Systematic Review.” International Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 44, no. 5, 25 July 2022, https://doi.org/10.1055/a-1908-8867.
  10. Fong Yan, A., Quinlan, S., & Cheung, R. T. H. (2024). Minimalist school shoes improve intrinsic foot muscle size, strength, and arch integrity among primary school students. Journal of Sports Sciences, 42(12), 1157–1163. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2024.2386213
  11. Malisoux, Laurent, NicolasDelattre, AxelUrhausen, CedricMorio, and DanielTheisen. 2025. “Association of Shoe Cushioning Perception and Comfort With Injury Risk in Leisure-Time Runners: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomised Trial,” European Journal of Sport Science: e70063. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsc.70063.
  12. Macdermid PW, Walker SJ, Cochrane D. The Effects of Cushioning Properties on Parameters of Gait in Habituated Females While Walking and Running. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(3):1120.
  13. “Hoka One One Original Clifton Performance Review.” Believe in the Run, 10 Apr. 2023, believeintherun.com/shoe-reviews/hoka-one-one-original-clifton-performance-review/. Accessed 21 May 2026.
  14. Sedano, Gorka. “First Impressions of the HOKA Clifton 11: Why It Is Still the Benchmark for Daily Long-Distance Training.” RUNNEA, Runnea UK, 7 Jan. 2026, www.runnea.co.uk/articles/running-news/first-impressions-hoka-clifton-still-25680/. Accessed 21 May 2026.
  15. Kulmala, Juha-Pekka, et al. “Running in Highly Cushioned Shoes Increases Leg Stiffness and Amplifies Impact Loading.” Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 1, 30 Nov. 2018, pp. 1–7, www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-35980-6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-35980-6. Accessed 9 Mar. 2020.