Image via Wikipedia “Overuse injuries of the musculoskeletal system generally occur when a structure is exposed to a large number of repetitive forces, each below the acute threshold of a structure, producing a combined fatigue effect over a period of time beyond the capabilities of the specific structure.” Hreljac et al. (2000) The question of […]
Repetitive Overuse Injuries in Runners: Causes and Prevention Strategies
October 22, 2010 By 25 Comments
Slow Motion Video of Elite Women at the 5th Avenue Mile Road Race
September 30, 2010 By 6 Comments
Steve Magness over at the Science of Running blog has a nice post up analyzing foot strike patterns of elite female runners from the recent 5th Avenue Mile race in New York City based on a high-speed video shot by Niell Elvin. He notes that 11 of the 15 women strike either on the midfoot […]
Running Form, the Origin of Minimalism, and the Elite vs. Recreational Divide
September 21, 2010 By 23 Comments
I love when I read something that makes me think – that’s exactly what happened when I read Steve Magness’ latest post on his Science of Running blog. In his post, Steve discusses his perspective on how we arrived at our current state of affairs with regard to running shoe design, how this relates to […]
Newton Panel Discussion on Natural Running Form and Shoes: This is a Must Listen
September 19, 2010 By 12 Comments
I’d like to use this post to point you to some excellent discussions of running form and running shoes that have come out in the past few weeks. First and foremost, Newton Running recently sponsored an excellent panel discussion on natural running form and running shoes in Colorado. The panel included Dr. Irene Davis PhD, […]
A Contrast in Form: Variable Running Gaits at the 10K Mark of a Marathon/Half-Marathon
September 15, 2010 By 13 Comments
Sometimes a simple video can speak louder than words or any research study. Last Fall some of my students and I filmed nearly all of the runners in the Manchester City Marathon and Half-Marathon as they passed both the 6-mile (marathoners and half-marathoners) and 20-mile marks (marathoners only) of the race. The video below was […]
Shorter, Quicker Stride Reduces Impact on Knees and Hips: New Research From Dr. Bryan Heiderscheit of the University of Wisconsin
August 25, 2010 By 13 Comments
Image via Wikipedia One of the major arguments posited by many for running barefoot or in minimalist shoes is that doing so reduces the likelihood of injury. However, although I trend toward minimalism in my own shoe preferences, I’ll be completely honest and admit that no study has confirmed that barefoot/minimalist running in fact reduces […]
On Overpronation and Neutral Running Shoes: Guest Post by Anders Torger
August 23, 2010 By 24 Comments
One of the great things about this blog is that through it I have met some very thoughtful people who share my deep fascination in the topics of running mechanics and shoe choice. I’ve recently started exchanging emails with a fellow runner from Sweden, Anders Torger, and he apparently has as big a shoe problem […]
On Running Form II: Where Should Footstrike Occur?
August 18, 2010 By 83 Comments
Running coach and exercise physiologist Steve Magness of the Science of Running blog recently put up a long, thorough post explaining his thoughts about “How to Run.” One of the things I found interesting about his post was his discussion of the use of “cues” to help one improve running form. Often, as Magness admits, […]
On Running Form, Variability in Elites, and What it Means to You (and Me)
August 9, 2010 By 34 Comments
Image by -nanio- via Flickr If there is one thing that I have learned in 15+ years of teaching and studying biology, it’s that variation is the norm rather than the exception. Variability is the reason why biology is sometimes called the “sloppy science,” and it’s the reason why undergraduate biology majors at my college […]
How to Run: A Biomechanical Approach by Steve Magness
August 4, 2010 By 6 Comments
Earlier this week I posted a quote from and interview Amby Burfoot conducted with famed runner and coach Alberto Salazar in which Salazar was quoted as saying: “There has to be one best way of running. It’s got to be like a law of physics. And if you deviate too much from that–the way I […]
Alberto Salazar on Running Form: "There has to be one best way of running."
August 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia Amby Burfoot recently posted the text of an interview he conducted with famed marathoner and Nike running coach Alberto Salazar on the Racing News Blog on RunnersWorld.com. In the interview, Burfoot asked Salazar a few questions regarding the thought process behind Dathan Ritzenhein’s recent change to a more midfoot/forefoot footsrike. Among the […]
What is Nike Doing?: Speculating on a Shoe Market in Motion
July 23, 2010 By 9 Comments
It’s been a rather interesting couple of days here on Runblogger. Yesterday, after I published a review on a remarkable study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that looked at the efficacy of pronation control shoes in preventing pain and injury in runners, Christopher McDougall published a post of his own on the same […]
The Pronation Control Paradigm is Starting to Crumble: Review of a Study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine
July 22, 2010 By 49 Comments
Image via Wikipedia When you walk into a running shoe store, you are typically faced by a wall of colorful, “high-tech” shoes that are neatly grouped into three categories (sometimes four if “cushioned” is included as a distinct category). These categories are: neutral, stability/support, and motion control. How do you choose which shoe is right […]
Dathan Ritzenhein Switches from Heel to Midfoot Strike: "I think I’m more efficient"
July 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Image by Getty Images The topic of running footstrike is a hot one right now in the running community. While it’s admittedly just a single element of the overall running gait, it’s one that runners have latched onto because of it’s apparent relationship to footwear (e.g., heel height, cushioning, etc.), and it’s one of the […]
