Nike are well known for being front runners in new innovating technology to enhance every single step you take. It is hard to imagine a world without the iconic Nike Max Air cushioning, but rewind back to 1979, when disco was king, and the inventor Frank Rudy pitched his idea to Phillip Knight. Rudy was a former aerospace engineer, making him the perfect candidate to blueprint a technology to create maximum impact protection. Nike and Rudy designed and patented the first Air-Sole unit and we have been forever in-debt to them for introducing to a completely new cushioning system.

Nike Air technology is a lightweight and innovative durable cushioning system  that maintains a high level of performance for the full life of the shoe. Not ones to let their ideas become stagnant, Nike have refined and designed different Air-Sole units over the years, to provide unique performance benefits to each style.

So I’m sure you are pondering now, how does it work? Pressurised air inside a tough yet flexible urethane bag compresses on impact to reduce the force and immediately recover to its original form, offering energy return. Like a box of chocolates, there are many specialised Air-Sole units to choose from, that offer specific performance needs for different sports, athletes, terrain, distances, speeds and directions of movement, I’m sure if needed they could make one for moon-walking. To cater to all of the different needs the Air-Sole units are all engineered the pressure, placement and thickness needed.

So what else makes them so special? Well they are lighter per unit volume than many other midsole cushioning systems on the market. In comparison to the classic foam midsole, they are more resilient and more durable, making it a winning formula.