I cant speak for everyone but i think beginners or recreational runners dont bother to think too much or do their research when getting a pair of shoes. They probably only want the shoes to be as light as possible while being comfortable. Heck, at the gym i go to ever had a trainer ask how can i possibly run in high stack shoes i was running in lol. As for plated ones, same logic during run the propulsion makes you feel like you are running fast but not everybody will consider the potential risks involved with over-use.
Yeah, for them, unfortunately that is also what would stop progress as well usually, coz of recurring injuries etc.
Your gym's trainer is actually correct, coz if they are not doing or training hyrox or anything related to running, they find the properties in race shoes like the extreme toe spring + high stack + relatively narrow toe box wrapping around to be wierd, esp those who lift only.
edit - and he is actually right...... for those new runners, they usually just buy and wing it, until they kena injury, just a matter of time.
It's the same over in cycling actually. Complaints about pains and numbness here and there coz of race geometries or lousy fit esp excerbated by insufficient strength in body areas that matter eg put a couch potato or even a 50 yr old brisk walking enthusiast or even a foldie enthusiast with mild sarcopenia on a race bike wo strengthening, good luck man. They think it's low impact so it is very accessible + safe......then they start to do things like not respecting mileage coz of peer pressure in group rides etc.....though still much more forgiving than running of coz.
But actual "serious" injuries that take you off cycling for months are more uncommon, unlike running. Different kind of "injuries", but these are not uncommon also, just comparatively not so serious.
The solutions for both actually share quite a lot of similarities tho....... not that intermediates or even beginners cannot wear, just that need to be more informed and do the necessary progressively overloaded strengthening or even plyo which also has good injury prevention properties built in. Only issue is, in both cycling / running, these are not sexy at all, so a fair number dont and wont do.
Things like muscular imbalances, biomechanical problems also affect both sports and these race oriented things do exacerbate and change biomechanics as they are not really meant for beginners esp wo conditioning work. Even a shoe rotation of several types of CF plated shoes but with differing characteristics partnered with even just basic strengthening might do wonders and starve off majority of running injuries if the training load does not vary that much coz one is consistent enough, easily doable with lower mileages / shorter race distances.
