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We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

news.nationalgeographic.com

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Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#71

Post by zzalpha »

Fordrus wrote: post #69
zzalpha wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TL;DR, the gist of the "wrong" is that we've been trained by "trainers" (over-padded athletic shoes) to run in a straight-legged, heel-lands-first manner. Any reputable running clinic will teach you to make contact with the ground at the middle of your foot with a slightly bent knee. That's just well understood, proper technique, regardless of footwear. The real problem is people hitting the pavement without learning…

Having been to a run clinic, I can absolutely call bull on the claim "Footwear is irrelevant, here.". At least the run clinic I went to assured me multiple times that my impression that wearing "trainers" specifically and greatly increases the difficulty of running "correctly" by striking with the middle of your foot with slightly bent knee. The large heel of virtually all training shoes makes landing in the middle o…

Was the clinic run by a store selling overpriced Vibrams by any chance?

I've run on regular runners for years. Nothing about them makes good technique harder. There may be less feedback you're doing it wrong (in the form of less pain and discomfort), but the designs themselves don't stop you from running properly.

That said, it's not easy. It requires real self-awareness and a willingness to fight the urge to overrun your stride length.

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#72

Post by sndean »

> he calls treadmills the "junk food of exercise.

> he believes running barefoot is more natural—and less likely to result in injury.

This has always bothered me, and, even on HN, it still bothers me. Too many experts.

I ran track and XC (HS, DIII, then DI for a season), did 100+ miles/week, won a half marathon, etc. Reasonably successful without any injuries, over ~15 years. Even I would get constant advice from everyone. Still do.

"You're running too much." "Your back looks too stiff." "Your shoes don't fit." "Don't do that with your hands." "You're landing on your heel too much."

Eventually you stop listening to everyone, even your coach. Running (and most sports) would do well to follow science and have a cited source following every statement. It's a little absurd when someone tells me I'm going to get injured if I don't do more barefoot running. I've been wearing this same model of Brooks shoe since I was 15. If you can give me a link to an article on Pubmed, I might read it.

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#73

Post by tnecniv »

rosser wrote: post #9

The Fine Article doesn't really go into how we're doing it wrong, beyond a passing mention of barefoot running, and some dissing of treadmills (which is hyperbolic and orthogonal to reality; you can run "correctly" or "badly" on a treadmill or on the street or trail). I used to run a bit. Did an informal "couch to 5k" over a couple of months, before I'd even discovered that was a thing. The single most effective thin…

> When you run barefoot, or in a pair of ultra-light "shoes" like Vibrams, you learn very quickly not to do that, or you stop running. The "right" way is to land on the ball of the foot, with the knee slightly bent. The knee bends further to dissipate the force of the landing. This is how evolution "meant" for us to do it.

I'd encourage even an experienced runner to try and do a lap around the track barefoot. It really does highlight the importance of form.

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#76

Post by agumonkey »

goatlover wrote: post #61
peterwwillis wrote: post #34

How to do running right: 1. Walk. 2. Increase pace until uncomfortable. 3. Back off pace until comfortable. Everything else is yak shaving.

Not if you want to be a competitive runner. Then you need to be able to run through the uncomfortable pace (in the context of proper training).

I think he meant to bootstrap balancing learning period. Not as an effort.

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#78

Post by Fordrus »

zzalpha wrote: post #71
Fordrus wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been to a run clinic, I can absolutely call bull on the claim "Footwear is irrelevant, here.". At least the run clinic I went to assured me multiple times that my impression that wearing "trainers" specifically and greatly increases the difficulty of running "correctly" by striking with the middle of your foot with slightly bent knee. The large heel of virtually all training shoes makes landing in the middle o…

Was the clinic run by a store selling overpriced Vibrams by any chance? I've run on regular runners for years. Nothing about them makes good technique harder. There may be less feedback you're doing it wrong (in the form of less pain and discomfort), but the designs themselves don't stop you from running properly. That said, it's not easy . It requires real self-awareness and a willingness to fight the urge to overru…

Well, it was two clinics: a running shoe store in Utah that does not sell vibrams, and then a university physical course called "Jogging.". I already in the vibrams back then, but was not permitted to use them in the class, this was probably 5 years ago now. The strongest feedback about the general difficulty of hitting midfoot properly in shoes with a heel was in the jogging class, I asked about it in the running test at the shop as well. I've visited with doctors on the topic as well, but I suppose I csn't say that I have visited a medical clinic dedicated to helping you run correctly just yet. :D

The major problem was that I could overdo the motion, hitting on the ball of my foot, or underdo it and hit the heel, but hitting the sweet spot for middle foot landing is- well, I can agree with the way you put it, but I'd intensify the statement: the feedback from a well-shoed foot is so weak that an inexperienced person like me will literally not be able to tell the difference between a foot strike that is actually correct and one that is not. My understanding is that a your shoe's heel on a midfoot strike actually still generally touches first, it just does not hit as hard, bit then, like I said, I never really mastered this.

I should mention, well, both the class and the shop took detailed video of me running, from multiple angles, and analyzed them with me, along with analyzing the sole of my regular running shoes (I did own both vibrams and regular running shoes at the time, the vibrams we're sort of my special cases, most especially because they were quite annoying to wear if it rained substantially!)- but analyzed where the wear and tear was on my regular running shoes.

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#79

Post by riku_iki »

sndean wrote: post #72

> he calls treadmills the "junk food of exercise. > he believes running barefoot is more natural—and less likely to result in injury. This has always bothered me, and, even on HN, it still bothers me. Too many experts. I ran track and XC (HS, DIII, then DI for a season), did 100+ miles/week, won a half marathon, etc. Reasonably successful without any injuries, over ~15 years. Even I would get constant advice from eve…

> I've been wearing this same model of Brooks shoe since I was 15.

Which model exactly? :-)

Re: We Evolved to Run But We're Doing It Wrong

#80

Post by agumonkey »

peterwwillis wrote: post #34

How to do running right: 1. Walk. 2. Increase pace until uncomfortable. 3. Back off pace until comfortable. Everything else is yak shaving.

What barefoot forces you is to restart that process at very basic level. Your feet are sensitive, if you stomp on the ground as you do with shoes (especially amortizing running shoes) you'll quickly see the problem.

It makes your movement way more subtle, soft, supple and also redistributes effort on the whole limb chain.

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