The Running Shoe Conspiracy

"Runners wearing top-of-the-line trainers are 123 per cent more likely to get injured than runners in cheap ones. This was discovered as far back as 1989, according to a study led by Dr Bernard Marti, the leading preventative-medicine specialist at Switzerland's University of Bern."

"Follow-up studies found similar results, like the 1991 report in Medicine & Science In Sports & Exercise that found that 'wearers of expensive running shoes that are promoted as having additional features that protect (eg, more cushioning, 'pronation correction') are injured significantly more frequently than runners wearing inexpensive shoes."

HOW THE HECK CAN THIS BE TRUE????

If I were reading this post, I would need more proof than some research. I would need the opinion of a serious running coach to actually believe this bullshit.

Well, Stanford University track and field coach Vin Lananna is here to teach us how the $20 billion running shoe industry is full of shit. "I can't prove this but I believe that when my runners train barefoot they run faster and suffer fewer injuries". The respected coach, who has kept Stanford track and field in the top 15, went on to say that he "once ordered highend shoes for the team and within two weeks we had more plantar faciitis and Achilles problems then I'd even seen."

HOW THE HECK CAN THIS BE TRUE????

Sneakers are designed to have you strike the ground with your heal, well in front of your center of mass.


Unfortunately, this is not how anyone should run. For those of you who have heard of POSE running or Chi Running, you already know this. If I had you run barefoot, without instruction or coaching, you would naturally strike the ground with the balls of your feet, close to directly under your center of mass.



However, you should not start to run barefoot tomorrow. You have most likely been wearing shoes for your entire running life that have caused the musculature of your feet to atrophy.

My advice is to visit crossfitendurance and watch some video on POSE running and learn how to run correctly. Look at the image of Jesse Owens above and check out those shoes. Not much to them and that is how it should be.

INTRO TO POSE RUNNING

The majority of the information in this post was taken from Christopher McDougall's new book 'Born to Run'. A great read and especially important if you're interested in running any kind of distance injury free.