RSS
Home
Throw away your fancy running shoes - part 2
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
www.soassoas.com
Dr. Eric Cobb, the creator of the Z-Health Performance Solutions System likes to ask the question: why do we pretend our feet are made of different stuff than the rest of our body?
In his classes, Dr. Cobb asks: “If we designed a neck brace that interfered with our ability to move our neck, and we wore that brace 12-15 hours a day nearly every day of our lives, what would you expect to happen to your neck?”
The invariable answer is: weakness, stiffness, attrophy, etc.
So why do we expect a different result when we place our feet in stiff, immobile, unnatural footwear?
Footwear weakens our natural foot structures; creating the need for external support (motion control, torsion, control, pronation control, cushioning / impact control, etc.). The externally supported foot however, never matches the performance of a well functioning foot.
On the Sportscience website, Australian Physical Therapist Michael Warburton writes: “Running barefoot is associated with a substantially lower prevalence of injuries of the ankle and chronic injuries of the lower leg in developing countries...”.
Warburton’s article explores the research on barefoot vs. shod running and comes to the following conclusions:
• Running in shoes appears to increase the risk of ankle sprains, either by decreasing awareness of foot position or by increasing the twisting torque on the ankle during a stumble.
• Running in shoes appears to increase the risk of plantar fasciitis and other chronic injuries of the lower limb by modifying the transfer of shock to muscles and supporting structures.
• Running in bare feet reduces oxygen consumption by a few percent. Competitive running performance should therefore improve by a similar amount, but there has been no published research comparing the effect of barefoot and shod running on simulated or real competitive running performance.
• Research is needed to establish why runners choose not to run barefoot. Concern about puncture wounds, bruising, thermal injury, and overuse injury during the adaptation period are possibilities.
• Running shoes play an important protective role on some courses, in extreme weather conditions, and with certain pathologies of the lower limb.
Shoes are very much a necessity, and a societal norm, for most Americans; but we do have choices. Many shoe manufacturers are producing more mobile “low profile” shoes. Nike introduced the Free, a shoe designed to move with your feet.
Be aware not to go barefoot to quickly, take time to allow your feet to adapt.
Related Articles:
Comments
