To Shoe or Not to Shoe

There has been a lot of discussion recently about which running shoes (or no shoes) are the best to use. You can't watch TV without getting bombarded with new types of minimalist shoes that are becoming more popular. Even established brands like Nike are starting to jump on this trend with their Nike Free shoes.

So, who are you supposed to believe? Growing up, "experts" always told me that more padding through the heel is better and I needed shoes with "motion control" for the calcaneous (heel). Unfortunately, this view has been challenged lately with the popularity of the book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall and with Nicholas Romanov's POSE method of running.

What these two people, and countless others, have brought to the forefront is the need to get back to running like we were naturally intended to run. Even though I'm sure most of you loved your physics class, I won't be getting too deep into the mechanics of running in this article. However, I will try to explain why this is a more efficient method of running as compared to traditional heel-to-toe running.

When running without shoes, or with minimalist shoes, our body naturally tends to make ground contact with the middle to front of the foot. This causes the foot to strike the ground closer to the person's center of gravity, making it easier for the body to travel over the foot and maintain speed more efficiently. Traditional shoes absorb the shock of the ground, but since it happens out in front of the body, the runner has to overcome increased ground reaction forces. Overcoming these forces from the ground causes the runner to exhert more effort just to maintain speed.

If you’ve always run in thick, soft-soled shoes and want to move to more minimalist running, there are a few things to remember. Make sure you TRANSITION SLOWLY by starting with shorter runs. You will be using new muscle patterns, so some calf/hamstring soreness will most likely occur at first. If you are serious about running and want to do longer distances, get into a specialist so they can assess your gait. It doesn’t make much sense to go from one bad style of running into another different, but equally, bad method.

There is much more to talk about than what I can fit in this article.  If you have any questions or comments contact me at eric@johnstonpt.com or 515-270-0303.  I would love to work with you to help you achieve your goals! 

I will leave you with a video for some of the basics of POSE running:  http://youtu.be/PvbhZKxAzPI