Barefoot running shoe maker forced to withdraw health claims<\/a>\u201d, got me thinking.<\/p>\nThing is, I also own a pair of Nike Frees.\u00a0 And a pair of rather bulky Asics.\u00a0 I rotate between all three for my runs.\u00a0 And I can say this with confidence:<\/p>\n
Your running shoes don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n
Sure, the shoes feel different.\u00a0 And they teach you different things about your stride. \u00a0My Vibrams taught me a lot about how bad my form was when I got them.\u00a0 This just happened to coincide with a rigorous yoga\/training schedule that included weight\u00a0training, better diet, and less running.\u00a0 Yes, less running.\u00a0 Don\u2019t knock it, it shaved almost a half hour off my marathon time, but that’s beside the point.<\/p>\n
Here’s where I learned that if I wanted to be a faster runner, my form needed to improve.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why your running shoes, in the end, don\u2019t matter.\u00a0 The distance between your foot and the asphalt?\u00a0 \u00bc inch, tops.\u00a0 If you\u2019re thinking a proper cushion is going to make a lick of difference, you might want to rethink that.<\/p>\n
No, it\u2019s your footstrike that starts the cushioning.\u00a0\u00a0 The arch of your foot grips the road as it coils up, the shock travels up your leg and gets further absorbed by the thighs, hips, and then your core.\u00a0 There\u2019s your cushioning.\u00a0 About four feet of muscles and tendons in a delicate trapeze to keep your torso gliding smoothly as a cloud over the road.<\/p>\n
Sure, Nike and Vibram will tell you some BS about how your feet and calves will adapt to the strain of minimalis shoes.\u00a0 They\u2019re marketing departments and you should suspect them.\u00a0 Is your form off?\u00a0 Do you run with a hunched back and a potbelly?\u00a0 Do you shuffle along like it\u2019s a struggle to stay upright?\u00a0 Your feet and shins are not designed to handle that kind of strain.\u00a0 They will only crack and break.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what I discussed with my friends at Phase IV \u2013 \u201coveruse injury\u201d is really a misnomer.\u00a0 It\u2019s really \u201coverabuse\u201d \u2013 that is, running for too long with a form that abuses specific joints not designed to handle stress.<\/p>\n
Instead, look at the people that show off those light shoes in the ads.\u00a0 They\u2019re fit, trim, their abs are tight, and they run like they\u2019re hovering over the ground.\u00a0 If you want to avoid injury, you need to learn how to run like that.\u00a0 That takes dedication.\u00a0 It\u2019s the kind of gait we aspire to as runners, it\u2019s what we admire in awe when we watch elites glide\u00a0down the road like a dream.<\/p>\n
And when you keep this as the benchmark of injury free running, your running shoes don\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019m a proud owner of a pair of Vibram FiveFingers.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s my second pair, I wore out my first pair with no adverse effects on my legs.\u00a0 So I watch with amused disinterest when I see the various pro\/con stories pop up. This latest one, \u201cBarefoot running shoe maker forced to withdraw health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[138,140,139,136,141,142,137],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/mrbiggs.net\/ron\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}