Is the Puma Fast-R 3 the Greatest Supershoe?

Have super shoes peaked? Or is there still room to get a faster shoe? In this episode, I break down a new study that puts Puma’s prototype Fast-R 3—designed using computational optimization—head-to-head with top-tier shoes like the Alphafly and Adios Pro Evo.

The results? Every runner tested had their best running economy in the FR3.

We’ll unpack what makes this shoe different, how it was built entirely through simulation, and what this might mean for the future of personalized performance footwear. Plus, we’ll zoom out to look at limitations and what runners should really take away from this study.

Check out the study here: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.13.648601v1