Bikes and cars are modes of transport. They're optimal for getting around at high speeds, but when you don't need them, you need to leave them somewhere, they're large and not very convenient. On the other hand, these are shoes. You put them on in the morning and can wear them anywhere outside, they're not separate things you need to handle. I can definitely see demand for this from people who walk all day long for their jobs (warehouse workers, military, etc) or hikers/runners who want to stretch their endurance over a larger distance.
I would like to have something like this if it helped me with e.g. shin splints, or similar, because I really love running, but I tend to overdo it and I don't have any other options than asphalt to run on. Not sure if this one would be good for shin splits though. I guess this could potentially just be a fun thing to run a bit faster, but that alone wouldn't be worth it for me. But if it allowed me to balance where the strain goes, then yeah.
I was going to comment the same thing, rather than push off harder, I'd hope it help brace for impact and relieve some of the weaker muscles.
Yes, I should perhaps be doing strength training, but I have limited hours to exercise and I'd prefer to spend them running rather than training so that eventually I could be running.
Another thing that happens is that your technique gets worse during longer runs, making you more prone to injuries. Maybe a device like this could either support you so you can run longer runs or compensate to make sure you don't hurt yourself.
So if this device helps with reducing running based injuries, I'm all for it
I have an electric cargo bike that I put in one of the lowest settings, if I cycle at the top speed it doesn't help much if at all. But accelerating from a dead stop is nice. This could be similar
Off topic, but for what it's worth I'm getting myself a rowing machine to try and alleviate my running cravings, especially as winter is coming. I'm not sure if it will be able to reproduce the feelings I get from running as I haven't done rowing enough, but running seems to be the only thing I've found that puts me into this flow state. Cycling is too limited, legs only, HR doesn't get high enough, so hopefully rowing is better due to it being full body. Rowing won't be outside and I won't be physically moving around so that may be the downside. But the metrics to achieve should be much more consistent and comparable compared to if there's many weather changes otherwise, so looking forward to seeing progress there.
It’s somewhat funny that you mention shin splints and technique breakdown, both of which can be helped through regular gym going but also want a shortcut rather than the obvious solution.
Shin splints really do suck though, I had some that put me off running for about 12 months.
Maybe they can be helped, and I've read suggestions like these as well, but I used to do a lot of strength training, including not skipping leg days, and still got shin splints. So strength training might decrease odds for some people, but I don't feel like it would be deciding factor for me.
Might be good for the last mile commuting problem, where people need a way to get from their home to a bus stop that is a mile or two away. A bicycle is not a good solution because then you have to take it on to the bus and to your destination.
I wish that existed too. Not just an event to see how far the human body can be pushed naturally, but also another one to see how far it can be pushed, period. There would still need to be regulation to ensure that people didn't actively harm themselves (like extreme doping or something), but other augmentations like exoskeletons and such would be allowed.
I see this more applicable to the military and law enforcement, but yes also for the elderly and disabled. Yeah, the opening line with “athletes” doesn’t make sense.
There are already powered leg augmentations on the market for $3-5k, but these are much smaller.
