A lot of comments are casting doubt on why “athletes” would be interested in this product. In the bike world, electric pedal assist bikes have become very popular. I have some family members who are avid cyclists. They do 100+ miles a week. As they have gotten older (60+) they were losing the ability to engage in social rides with their bike friends, but e-bikes have solved that issue by giving them just a small boost needed to keep up.
I could see this doing the same for older runners if the tech gets good enough.
“Athlete” != “professional athlete” the word encompasses a wide range of people and abilities.
Anyone who thinks an electric assist is legitimately athletic is fooling themselves. Athleticism is fundamentally about pushing the limits of the body.
There is no shortcut for the athlete: work must be put in to develop the body.
This may be a fun toy, ebikes may have great utility, cars may be used in motorsport, but they are not truly athletic instruments.
Are you sure? I am talking about 60 and 70 year olds who can ride a non e bike 50+ miles without stopping, but who need an e-bike to ride 50+ miles at the same pace as their younger friends. How is that person not athletic? Sure they aren’t winning any gold medals, but they are still clearly in the top 1% of their age group.
Is a ski lift athletic, it's powered. Does it make skiers inherently UN-athletic?
I've got a 12 mile bike commute with a big ass hill at the end. If I do 0 miles a day/week/ever without an electric bike to get me up that hill, or I do 8 miles 2x a week with the electric, am I not more athletic? Are firemen who use a hose that is powered by a pump less athletic than those who carry water in buckets?
If I'm normally sitting stationary and I do anything movement at all am I not, in fact, pushing the limits of my body?
My mom was 80, and had a stroke. She couldn't lift her toes on the right side, making it hard to walk without tripping. These shoes are for "everyday athletes". Does this make her completely unathletic, or do they, in fact, allow her to become more athletic than she could be otherwise?
If it were solely about pushing the limits of the body, cyclists wouldn’t obsess about aerodynamics nearly as much and competitions would be about average watts over n-minutes or something like that.
Random point (and definitely not agreeing with OP), but Zwift (and probably others before) has brought on an age of watts/kg competitions.
And a lot of being aerodynamic on a bike is athleticism: you need to be flexible enough and appropriately trained to be in the right posture. The bike frames, skinsuits, etc, are all in the "marginal gains" territory.
I'd like such technology very much, as I lack about 80% of my calf muscles due to an auto immune disease. I can't walk without a (non powered) exo skeleton, and perhaps with these I can walk stairs again.
I completely agree my mother has MS and I have my own autoimmune issues. Something like this would be extremely helpful for people with debilitating diseases that cause muscle deterioration.
> This makes it easier for everyday athletes to walk or run more often, for longer amounts of time, while having more fun — adding movement to their lives, extending their walking commute, or helping them to enjoy the run for another mile or two.
The people I know who run all do it for the exercise, not because they like the running. Why would you want to extend it?
I'm a huge fan of "slightly better walking/running" kind of tech. Unfortunately, current technology lends itself to devices that are slightly too heavy. I have a pair of Shift Moonwalkers[0] that I was hoping would fulfill that role.
A motorcycle accident interrupted my fitness program and it took quite a lot of work to get back to where I am. During that period there were many times when I was (minorly) injured repeatedly since all my muscles were just not strong enough to do things and I wasn't disciplined about them.
I picked up some persistent tendinitis that is just healing with some physiotherapy. Things like this aren't terribly limiting in life but the primary problem is that a lot of the stuff you have to do is rest the appropriate body part! And to rest it, you need to not do things. I don't want to not do things. I want to do things while resting the appropriate part of my body.
And I bet as I get older, all this stuff will catch up. So anything that will extend mobility to my elderly years (still far away) is great. If I do the right things, my body will function well into my 80s and if the tech is there hopefully I'll walk around with my grandkids. All in all, I'm hoping that material science in batteries, motors, and frames and product design all do a big leap in this in the next 40 years. The market is likely there with our aging population.
For those of you who don’t “see the point” of a device like this, what you are failing to see is your own personal use case.
The use cases I can see for others are “anyone who might find this useful or fun”. To me, that means
1) people with medically compromised joints who would like to engage in experiences that their bodies don’t currently allow.
2) people who want to challenge themselves by making these joint additions add more resistance.
3) people who want more strength and/or power for any reason. “Fun” is a valid use case.
These joint enhancements exist for hips, knees, and with this, now ankles. The logical end for this is a powered exoskeleton (and, after that, power armor).
> 1) people with medically compromised joints who would like to engage in experiences that their bodies don’t currently allow.
And medically compromised muscles, nervous systems, etc. I know someone in that situation who loves scooters. They say it's like flying - they finally can move at will, instead of the lifelong difficulty and pain of walking.
I find running incredibly boring, because the scenery changes so damn slowly around you. I would happily put in the same effort for the same time, but go substantially faster to make it more fun.
Not sure I would buy this product, but I see more than 0 use for it.
> because the scenery changes so damn slowly around you
Have you considered running faster?
But seriously though, I’ve gotten pretty decent at running (3h15min marathon PR) and the difference between hiking a trail and running the same trail is kinda bonkers. These days I can run a trail in 2 hours that took me 6 hours to hike 10 years ago. Hits totally different. The whole dynamic changes.
Hiking feels immensely boring now
PS: If you run fast enough you don’t even notice the scenery.
There is nothing natural about the motions of running in modern running shoes, and yet people learn. Getting the behavior right will be difficult, I'm sure, but not impossible.
Wild! Looks like it pulls your heel up so reduces energy requirement of each up stroke? Seems like it would need to be super light to offset carrying more mass?
Are there any actual videos of this, you know, in use? All I see is a bunch of 3d renders of it. There isn't even a picture of a Nike executive holding a prototype.
> the power comes from pistons that are filled with a fuel-air mixture, and fired by compression when the user puts his or her full body weight down into the boot
"designed to help everyday athletes* go a little bit faster and farther"
When is the last time an athlete said I'm looking to go a little faster and farther with the aid of a powered device? Their target market is all wrong. This would be great if aimed towards low mobility users.
> and Nike will rip you off with the price for "western engineering".
It's the brand more than anything. Nike's brand commands a premium.
I've quite literally never seen a product like this on the market, so as far as I'm concerned if Nike is the first to Western market with the product, and they do a good job introducing it, it's their innovation.
It's like with Nintendo and Apple. They're quite frequently not the first to develop a technology, but they take things and popularize them. Digital cameras, motion control, touch screens, smartphones, tablet gaming devices, ...
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
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.
The batteries belong on a hip belt, not down where the foot swings
A lot of comments are casting doubt on why “athletes” would be interested in this product. In the bike world, electric pedal assist bikes have become very popular. I have some family members who are avid cyclists. They do 100+ miles a week. As they have gotten older (60+) they were losing the ability to engage in social rides with their bike friends, but e-bikes have solved that issue by giving them just a small boost needed to keep up.
I could see this doing the same for older runners if the tech gets good enough.
“Athlete” != “professional athlete” the word encompasses a wide range of people and abilities.
The linked article says this at the end:
> * If you have a body, you are an athlete.
Anyone who thinks an electric assist is legitimately athletic is fooling themselves. Athleticism is fundamentally about pushing the limits of the body. There is no shortcut for the athlete: work must be put in to develop the body.
This may be a fun toy, ebikes may have great utility, cars may be used in motorsport, but they are not truly athletic instruments.
Are you sure? I am talking about 60 and 70 year olds who can ride a non e bike 50+ miles without stopping, but who need an e-bike to ride 50+ miles at the same pace as their younger friends. How is that person not athletic? Sure they aren’t winning any gold medals, but they are still clearly in the top 1% of their age group.
Is a ski lift athletic, it's powered. Does it make skiers inherently UN-athletic?
I've got a 12 mile bike commute with a big ass hill at the end. If I do 0 miles a day/week/ever without an electric bike to get me up that hill, or I do 8 miles 2x a week with the electric, am I not more athletic? Are firemen who use a hose that is powered by a pump less athletic than those who carry water in buckets?
If I'm normally sitting stationary and I do anything movement at all am I not, in fact, pushing the limits of my body?
My mom was 80, and had a stroke. She couldn't lift her toes on the right side, making it hard to walk without tripping. These shoes are for "everyday athletes". Does this make her completely unathletic, or do they, in fact, allow her to become more athletic than she could be otherwise?
I’ve heard of dirt jumpers using e-bikes to get more laps in for training to help them get familiar with the track.
Are you saying they are not athletic because they didn’t do all their training on a push bike?
If it were solely about pushing the limits of the body, cyclists wouldn’t obsess about aerodynamics nearly as much and competitions would be about average watts over n-minutes or something like that.
Random point (and definitely not agreeing with OP), but Zwift (and probably others before) has brought on an age of watts/kg competitions.
And a lot of being aerodynamic on a bike is athleticism: you need to be flexible enough and appropriately trained to be in the right posture. The bike frames, skinsuits, etc, are all in the "marginal gains" territory.
I still think OP's take is wrong though.
Yeah, but do they still work when us-east-1 goes down?
if it does I am buying this for my daughter to replace roomba which doesn’t :)
... Because currently, your daughter rides around on a Roomba? And this will allow her similar freedom of movement, but more fault-tolerant?
I'd like such technology very much, as I lack about 80% of my calf muscles due to an auto immune disease. I can't walk without a (non powered) exo skeleton, and perhaps with these I can walk stairs again.
I completely agree my mother has MS and I have my own autoimmune issues. Something like this would be extremely helpful for people with debilitating diseases that cause muscle deterioration.
Are you using something like this? Do you get back most of your previous functionality?
https://newatlas.com/unpowered-ankle-exoskeleton-walking-eff...
Wow, that's awful. Have you looked into the existing powered exoskeletons? Or are those too hip/thigh focused to help?
There's some excellent knee ones, too
> This makes it easier for everyday athletes to walk or run more often, for longer amounts of time, while having more fun — adding movement to their lives, extending their walking commute, or helping them to enjoy the run for another mile or two.
The people I know who run all do it for the exercise, not because they like the running. Why would you want to extend it?
I'm a huge fan of "slightly better walking/running" kind of tech. Unfortunately, current technology lends itself to devices that are slightly too heavy. I have a pair of Shift Moonwalkers[0] that I was hoping would fulfill that role.
A motorcycle accident interrupted my fitness program and it took quite a lot of work to get back to where I am. During that period there were many times when I was (minorly) injured repeatedly since all my muscles were just not strong enough to do things and I wasn't disciplined about them.
I picked up some persistent tendinitis that is just healing with some physiotherapy. Things like this aren't terribly limiting in life but the primary problem is that a lot of the stuff you have to do is rest the appropriate body part! And to rest it, you need to not do things. I don't want to not do things. I want to do things while resting the appropriate part of my body.
And I bet as I get older, all this stuff will catch up. So anything that will extend mobility to my elderly years (still far away) is great. If I do the right things, my body will function well into my 80s and if the tech is there hopefully I'll walk around with my grandkids. All in all, I'm hoping that material science in batteries, motors, and frames and product design all do a big leap in this in the next 40 years. The market is likely there with our aging population.
0: Here's an example of me using them after I got used to them https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qc5PKbJ3tq4
I am that older guy. For sure it catches up.
For those of you who don’t “see the point” of a device like this, what you are failing to see is your own personal use case.
The use cases I can see for others are “anyone who might find this useful or fun”. To me, that means
1) people with medically compromised joints who would like to engage in experiences that their bodies don’t currently allow.
2) people who want to challenge themselves by making these joint additions add more resistance.
3) people who want more strength and/or power for any reason. “Fun” is a valid use case.
These joint enhancements exist for hips, knees, and with this, now ankles. The logical end for this is a powered exoskeleton (and, after that, power armor).
> 1) people with medically compromised joints who would like to engage in experiences that their bodies don’t currently allow.
And medically compromised muscles, nervous systems, etc. I know someone in that situation who loves scooters. They say it's like flying - they finally can move at will, instead of the lifelong difficulty and pain of walking.
I find running incredibly boring, because the scenery changes so damn slowly around you. I would happily put in the same effort for the same time, but go substantially faster to make it more fun.
Not sure I would buy this product, but I see more than 0 use for it.
> because the scenery changes so damn slowly around you
Have you considered running faster?
But seriously though, I’ve gotten pretty decent at running (3h15min marathon PR) and the difference between hiking a trail and running the same trail is kinda bonkers. These days I can run a trail in 2 hours that took me 6 hours to hike 10 years ago. Hits totally different. The whole dynamic changes.
Hiking feels immensely boring now
PS: If you run fast enough you don’t even notice the scenery.
I mean... I run as fast/far as fitness permits. I'm not going slowly on purpose!
It sounds great, but I’m skeptical that it will actually help without messing up the natural motion.
There is nothing natural about the motions of running in modern running shoes, and yet people learn. Getting the behavior right will be difficult, I'm sure, but not impossible.
Wild! Looks like it pulls your heel up so reduces energy requirement of each up stroke? Seems like it would need to be super light to offset carrying more mass?
I'm sure it's science fiction right now but a pair of shoes that could teach you to do a kick flip would be pretty amazing.
Pair with some power gloves to catch your fall and maybe I can learn to skateboard as my mid life crisis activity down the road.
Are there any actual videos of this, you know, in use? All I see is a bunch of 3d renders of it. There isn't even a picture of a Nike executive holding a prototype.
https://youtu.be/Psp3YarOKVw
Mrwhosetheboss did a video on the new Nike stuff including these
Has anyone 3d printed something similar? Looks doable - motors and servos are really cheap on AliExpress
I’m going to be ripped once the powered arms do my lifting for me.
Come to think of it, why is Superman muscular?
It's a start, but we're going to need a powered full exoskeleton, with armor, for fighting Nazis.
Pales in comparison to Soviet science ;-):
> the power comes from pistons that are filled with a fuel-air mixture, and fired by compression when the user puts his or her full body weight down into the boot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_boots
https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/these-gas-powered-bo...
Seems to be these ones, and bunch of more videos in the description too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJvmAXCh6Ak
"designed to help everyday athletes* go a little bit faster and farther" When is the last time an athlete said I'm looking to go a little faster and farther with the aid of a powered device? Their target market is all wrong. This would be great if aimed towards low mobility users.
> an athlete said I'm looking to go a little faster and farther with the aid of a powered device
isn't that a time-honoured tradition at tour de france?
Related:
Nike's plans to put the swoosh back into its sales
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/oct/23/just-redo-it-i...
These are already common in China, and Nike will rip you off with the price for "western engineering".
Can you link some? I can only find the hip exoskeletons.
> Nike’s Project Amplify is the world’s first powered footwear system for running and walking,
So this is straight up false?
> These are already common in China
Link?
> and Nike will rip you off with the price for "western engineering".
It's the brand more than anything. Nike's brand commands a premium.
I've quite literally never seen a product like this on the market, so as far as I'm concerned if Nike is the first to Western market with the product, and they do a good job introducing it, it's their innovation.
It's like with Nintendo and Apple. They're quite frequently not the first to develop a technology, but they take things and popularize them. Digital cameras, motion control, touch screens, smartphones, tablet gaming devices, ...
I don’t get the point. Maybe there’s a therapy angle? But otherwise if someone wanted to go faster they could go to a bike, e-bike, or car.
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
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.
Lots of people walk long ways for different reasons. I'm very dubious that this will ever be a thing but there's definitely a market.
I assume there is a military angle here.
I want to see a competitive sports event like the Olympics where this sort of technology is allowed.
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.
It sounds fun tbh (not to mention all the potential medical uses)
What about a hike just on the edge of your ability?
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.