The acute ergogenic effects of advanced footwear technology (AFT) have been previously documented, though the potential for habituation to further improve these performance benefits is a recent area of interest. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of previous AFT experience on acute metabolic benefits from AFT as a measure of habituation to AFT. A retrospective cross-sectional analysis was conducted, examining the pre-test metabolic data from 25 collegiate and competitive club cross-country runners (male: n = 15; female: n = 10) who went on to participate in a training intervention. Participants completed four 5-minute trials at a self-selected submaximal speed, in a randomised ABBA order, in the Nike ZoomX Vaporfly Next% 3 (VP) and Nike Zoom Rival Waffle 5 (FL) to assess running economy (RE) and energetic cost (EC). Shoe specific RE and EC values were used to calculate AFT% benefit as the percent improvement in VP relative to FL. Runners were categorised as having previous AFT experience or not having prior AFT experience, via self-report questionnaire. Independent samples t-tests were used to compare AFT% benefit between groups. Runners with previous AFT experience (n = 16) had a significantly larger AFT% benefit (RE: 3.91 ± 2.17%; EC: 4.20 ± 2.30%) compared to runners who had not used AFT previously (RE: 2.00 ± 1.78%; EC: 2.47 ± 1.97%) (RE: p = 0.017; EC: p = 0.039). Habituation to AFT, measured by increased AFT% benefit, was observed among runners who had previously used AFT in this study. Therefore, AFT use prior to competition may provide performance benefits.
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