I’m teaching Exercise Physiology this semester, and my lecture topic on Thursday is fatigue. As I always do, I start the lecture with a video that demonstrates extreme fatigue pretty vividly, thought I’d also share it here!
Barefoot Heel Strikers Rejoice, New Kenyan Barefoot Study Indicates that You Are Not Alone!
January 24, 2013 By 11 Comments
A new study on barefoot running Kenyans has made its rounds through the media over the past few weeks. I first read about it in an article on the Scientific American website. Amby Burfoot then wrote about it over on Runner’s World, and also interviewed the author of the study. Yesterday, Gretchen Reynolds of the […]
Barefoot Running Mechanics are Different than Running in Nike Free, Nike Lunaracer 2, Standard Shoes
January 13, 2013 By 17 Comments
Several interesting studies have come out over the past few weeks that have in one way or another focused on the running foot strike. The first that I’m going to cover is by Jason Bonacci and colleagues and addresses how running mechanics differ between barefoot running and running in a “minimalist” shoe (Nike Free 3.0), […]
Study: Running Economy Improves After a 4 Week Simulated Barefoot Running Program
December 26, 2012 By 12 Comments
English: Vibram FiveFingers Bikila shoes, top view. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The question of how footwear (or lack thereof) affects running economy has received a great deal of attention over the past year or so. Several studies have come out that have compared oxygen consumption in runners in both shod and unshod states, and most recently […]
The Future of Minimalist Running Shoes and the Value of Variety
December 17, 2012 By 45 Comments
This morning I opened my email to find an alert that the newest edition of SGB Weekly magazine had come out and that it would be featuring a few articles by Thomas Ryan on trends in the running market as gleaned from interviews and discussions at The Running Event. The Running Event is the major […]
Your Feet in Wide vs. Narrow Shoes: Great Visual From Altra Running!
December 7, 2012 By 34 Comments
Altra Running posted a photo on their Facebook page showing an X-Ray image comparing foot shape in an Altra shoe vs. a narrow shoe with a pointed toebox (i.e., what most people typically wear all day). The difference is striking: I contacted Altra to confirm that these were real X-Rays, and was told that they […]
Foot Strike Patterns of Runners at the 2012 Western States Ultramarathon
November 10, 2012 By 22 Comments
A friend on Twitter (thanks Josh N.!) forwarded me a link to a post on the Sharman Ultra blog that discusses research results from the 2012 Western States Ultramarathon. A group of researchers had set up a study to look at foot strike patterns and stride characteristics of runners at several points in the race, […]
Mizuno Be: Show Us the Data
October 30, 2012 By 14 Comments
I came across the video below via a Twitter post by Ian Griffiths: Now Mizuno are at it: bit.ly/UCSmuqSome bold claims here about performance improvement and muscle activation… Evidence please…? — Ian Griffiths (@Sports_Pod) October 10, 2012 In the video, Mizuno claims that the new Mizuno Be shoe is designed to “increase activation” of the […]
Posterior Views of My Running Form in Vibram SeeYa LS, Merrell Flux Glove, Altra Instinct 1.5, and Saucony Ride 5
October 28, 2012 By 14 Comments
After posting videos of my running form in several shoes on Thursday, I was curious to see what things looked like in a few other options, particularly some zero drop shoes and a shoe with a higher drop. Yesterday I took my camera out to the street in front of my house and shot posterior-view […]
Critique Me!: Posterior Views of My Form When Running Barefoot, in Newton Distance Racers, and in the Skechers GoRun
October 26, 2012 By 46 Comments
I spent some time this afternoon with a group of my research students who are designing a senior project that they’ll hopefully conduct on running form. The goal for today was to familiarize them with the cameras that I have, and get some video from different angles so they have an idea of what they […]
Underfoot Pressure Tracings of Forefoot, Midfoot, and Heel Strikes in Barefoot Runners: We All Supinate!
October 20, 2012 By 6 Comments
There is a lot of misinformation out there regarding how the foot initially contacts the ground during running. For example, some people like to refer to themselves as “supinators,” as if it’s a diagnosis of something unique and bad. Some think that a midfoot landing involves the entire bottom of the foot contacting the ground […]
Running Form in My Son at 18 and 30 Months of Age
October 19, 2012 By 12 Comments
In a comment to a post I wrote earlier today someone suggested that I should take a video of my son running every six months to track how his form changes over time. This is a great idea, and my kids are used to being guinea pigs for me, so I thought I’d start by […]
Neutral Running Shoes Need Not Be the Goal for All Runners: More on Pronation Control
October 15, 2012 By 14 Comments
Over the past few years I’ve written several posts on problems with the pronation control/arch height model of fitting running shoes. These include the fact that runners generally have poor knowledge of how much they pronate, that static arch height does not correlate well with dynamic arch height, and that studies have shown little benefit […]
New York Times on the “Myths” of Running: Is There a Best Way to Run
Gina Kolata of the New York Times wrote an article that appeared in the paper today. The title is “Myths of Running: Forefoot, Barefoot, and Otherwise,” and the article opens with the following question: “Is there a best way to run, so that you use the least energy and go the fastest?” Kolata goes on […]