Anyone have and or used this?

[DiBatista]

I'm thinking about getting this.

http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/produ...odel_nbr=38557

Im a runningback and i think its a good investment for the price and it seems to work from "information" the creators of it have, but does anyone have it? is it effective? comfortable?

[Lou Schuler]

This is the easiest question of the day.

Check out what Fred Hatfield had to say:

http://www.sportsci.org/traintech/strengthshoes/fch.htm

Here's his overview:

Summary. A recent study found similar small gains (~1%) in sprint and jump performance when previously untrained young men trained for 10 weeks in regular shoes or Strength Shoes. Injury rate was much higher with Strength Shoes, probably a result of the inappropriate training program prescribed by the manufacturer. An earlier study of more experienced athletes showed trends towards better performance and less injury with normal shoes. I therefore cannot recommend Strength Shoes.

The study he cites is from 1996, but if there's more recent information validating these things, I sure haven't seen it. Strength shoes are sort of like chromium picolinate--no evidence they work, but lots of devoted fans.

Not to mention a great Seinfeld episode ...