What are Maximalist Shoes?

What are Maximalist Shoes and should you look into them? These are questions I asked myself when I read about this new style running shoe. Would they help reduce shin splints? Would they help my form? Would I run faster?

Before I jump into Maximalist shoes I figured I would research this new running trend which I am sure will take off the year. Given the rise and fall in popularity of Minimalist shoes I figure these shoes will follow the same trend. Will they last though and become a common shoe for the average day runner?

A good introduction to what Maximalist shoes are available is at: http://running.competitor.com/2014/02/shoes-and-gear/sole-man-12-things-about-maximalist-shoes_94938

Over at http://onceandalwaysarunner.com/2014/01/29/minimalist-maximalist-shoes-in-the-post-five-fingers-boom/ they asked similar questions I have and they did a great analysis of the Minimalist trend that has now been replaced with the Maximalist trend.

From my own emergence with Minimalist running I can attest to the problems that result from it. I experienced lots of aches and pains as I ramped up with minimalist running. The aches and pains were fine but I had to give up minimalist running when I experienced multiple leg issues like sprained calves and a sprained hamstring. I did experience some faster paces so some of this was a case of faster but at what cost? I decided to run minimalist less often and be more pain free which is why I dropped running minimalist regularly.

I will keep an eye on the price of the Maximalist shoes and hold out while I look for mere research on these. For now I will kept running and keep my eye on this new trend.

Are you using Maximalist shoes? How are they?