You Can Now Design Your New Balances To Fit Your Workout Style

We've just moved a little further into the future with our workout wear. Last week, New Balance announced that its 2016 line will include a high-performance sneaker with a 3D-printed midsole. It's the latest major sneaker brand to add a 3D-printed component to its products. We know you might have hoped that the future of running shoes would look more like Marty McFly's self-lacing kicks than a high-tech shoe layer, but hear us out — this is going to be big. Running and biomechanics experts are collaborating on the designs of the midsoles in order to find a balance between strength and flexibility in the material, according to New Balance. This is especially important because the first people to wear and test out these shoes will be high-performance athletes, who need a long-wearing shoe that won't slow them down. The midsoles will also be designed to accommodate the wearer's running style, with more cushioning around areas that tend to absorb more impact and pressure. “3D printing allows us to design different performance functions into one part, and ultimately deliver individual performance features to an athlete,” New Balance's general manager for studio innovation, Katherine Petrecca, tells Popular Science. To be fair, we'll have to wait about another year to get our hands on a pair of our own, but, as anyone who's bought uncomfortable shoes knows, the right sneaker is worth waiting for.