In my opinion, absolutely! I’ve read and reviewed their research. I’ve also plugged their research in to my outcome studies and theories of the mechanics of the feet. Lets say a person goes in to, oh maybe Roadrunner Sports, and you’re looking for a new pair of shoes. The first thing the sales people does is put you on the treadmill, run you for several minutes so that you assume your normal running mechanics. You then stand on some machine, it looks at hotspots on your feet as well as the imprint your foot leaves, then the machine decides what shoe you should be running in. To me, this is just a hard sell! If we go by this model, this means that every one alive walking has a deformed or malfunctioning foot or feet. This is so far from the truth! There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of our feet. The only time our feet malfunction is when we don’t take care of them! Like all things, our society feels that there is room for improvement.
The reason for the increased interest in minimalist or barefoot running is because peer reviewed studies are seeing that our mechanics with running change significantly when barefoot. The "technological" advances in shoes do not limit or reduce running injuries.
The mechanics of running becomes much more efficient and easier on our bodies when minimalist running. The force of impact through the body becomes less; our stride shortens and makes us more efficient in regards to energy expenditure. Because of the higher leg turnover with a shortened stride, time over distance decreases. This is because we are spending more time in contact with the ground propelling ourselves forward vs. having more vertical movement in our running stride. This vertical movement is a result of us relying on our shoes to cushion our landing. Energy spent going vertical takes away from energy propelling us forward. In other words, our running times improve, injury decreases, and our feet work like they are supposed to.
The structural integrity of our feet stays in tact vs. weakening our feet and legs by putting them in massive stability shoes. I’m not saying that a racing flat isn’t beneficial, because it is! I’m just saying that going back to basics vs. relying on technology that doesn't even come close to what our bodies are already capable of doing will benefit all of us!
No shoe can replace the way our natural foot works. No cushioning in any shoe can mimic the cushioning properties of our own natural heel pads. I could go on and on with technical jargon and research. So, if you don’t agree with what I’m saying here then good. Don’t take my word on it. Go straight to the sources of the research and look into it yourself.
Happy Bipeding!
Brad Senska, PT, DPT, BS, ASTYM.
bradsenska@yahoo.com
The reason for the increased interest in minimalist or barefoot running is because peer reviewed studies are seeing that our mechanics with running change significantly when barefoot. The "technological" advances in shoes do not limit or reduce running injuries.
The mechanics of running becomes much more efficient and easier on our bodies when minimalist running. The force of impact through the body becomes less; our stride shortens and makes us more efficient in regards to energy expenditure. Because of the higher leg turnover with a shortened stride, time over distance decreases. This is because we are spending more time in contact with the ground propelling ourselves forward vs. having more vertical movement in our running stride. This vertical movement is a result of us relying on our shoes to cushion our landing. Energy spent going vertical takes away from energy propelling us forward. In other words, our running times improve, injury decreases, and our feet work like they are supposed to.
The structural integrity of our feet stays in tact vs. weakening our feet and legs by putting them in massive stability shoes. I’m not saying that a racing flat isn’t beneficial, because it is! I’m just saying that going back to basics vs. relying on technology that doesn't even come close to what our bodies are already capable of doing will benefit all of us!
No shoe can replace the way our natural foot works. No cushioning in any shoe can mimic the cushioning properties of our own natural heel pads. I could go on and on with technical jargon and research. So, if you don’t agree with what I’m saying here then good. Don’t take my word on it. Go straight to the sources of the research and look into it yourself.
Happy Bipeding!
Brad Senska, PT, DPT, BS, ASTYM.
bradsenska@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment