It's pretty darn unlikely that you'll find the asics trainers Piranha or Hyperspeed at your local Foot Locker or Dick's Sporting Goods. Until recently, the average runner has had little choice but to go with the 12mm lift, heel striking model. Thankfully, progressive companies like Saucony, Merrell, Altra, Vibram, and New Balance are bringing alternative options to the running masses.Yes, every runner is different, and does have different requirements. ASICS has a lot of shoes to choose from, just not if your preference or requirement is one without a big heel and lots of cushion. See again my above comment about the likelihood of the everyday recreational runner finding a pair of ASICS racing flats in a typical shoe store. In terms of heel height, ASICS might as well be one size fits all.

Again to Squadrone and Gallozzi, 2009. Running in zero drop Vibram Fivefingers compared to traditional shoes reduces oxygen consumption and reduces ground contact time (which has been shown to be associated with greater speed). Maybe it's not a perfect example, but the claim that there is NO evidence asics running shoes is false. We can turn this around and ask for peer reviewed, published evidence of a benefit to running in ASICS shoes. What is the benefit of a 12mm lifted heel? You'll typically hear about reduced Achilles problems, but has this been proven? Richards et al., 2008 state that "& the overall impact on injury rates of running asics gel kayano in a shoe with an elevated heel remains untested in clinical trials ."

Finally, there's a snide remark about minimalist shoes following the path of toning shoes. However, I have a big problem with this. Toning shoes are an aberration that deviate humans farther from the condition we are born with (barefoot). Minimalist shoes bring us closer to our natural condition (barefoot). I would argue that the Asics Kinsei or Kayano has a lot more in common with a Sketchers Shape-Up than the Vibram Fivefingers do. I, for one, was not born with a hunk of unstable cushioning under my foot (like the Sketchers provide), nor was I born with my heel lifted 12mm off the ground with a support asics gt 2000 element wedged below my arch.

So much for that wet test ASICS!When criticizing minimalist advocates for lacking evidence, it seems that the lack of evidence is not so glaring as it is made to seem when you do dig into the literature. Without a doubt, there is some amount of contradiction, which is why this debate gets so heated these days. What's more, some of the evidence that is out there casts serious doubt on the very process that ASICS recommends when it comes to choosing one of their shoes  what could be more fundamental to what a shoe company needs to do than accurately advise its customers on how to choose a shoe?

Why does the shoe industry feel that shoes with a 12mm (or greater) heel lift are the "gold standard?" If there is no peer-reviewed evidence that these highly-cushioned shoes prevent injury or are more beneficial than zero drop shoes then why is there not more variety out there? If the studies are "still out" on either "minimal" or "maximal" (for lack of a better term) shoes then why isn't there an even representation of both styles on shoe store shelves? It would make sense that since you've said yourself that all runners are different and will therefore require different styles of running shoes then there would be an even representation of both "minimal" and "maximal" shoes in stores.

Different companies may give it a spoiler, Foose wheels, HID headlights, or a flashy paint job, but no matter what they do, it's still a Model-T. asics netball trainers If the Asics of the world don't start truly embracing a thing called innovation, then they WILL become the IBM of the shoe industry (as one astute reader stated previously).You mentioned before about a 12mm heel height being ideal? Why is that the standard? *Well, that's a very interesting question because it hasn't been settled on at all. With ASICS we've always worked on a 10mm gradient. That's the difference between the height of the forefoot and the height of the rear foot, so if you've got a cushion type shoe it might be 24mm and 14mm off the ground.