Is your running technique effective?
They say anyone can run, but can you naturally run effectively and efficiently. Are you getting maximum power out of your current technique.
“We found pockets of people all over the globe who are still running barefoot, and what you find is that during propulsion and landing, they have far more range of motion in the foot and engage more of the toe. Their feet flex, spread, splay and grip the surface, meaning you have less pronation and more distribution of pressure.”
Jeff Pisciotta, Senior Researcher, Nike’s Sports Research Lab (1).
Are you a heel striker?
Heal strikers are shod runners i.e. heal foot strikers. Correctly transitioning to midfoot striking in order to improve form and reduce injury rates.
Do you want to reduce injuries?
For millions of years, it is likely that runners landed with no single, specific foot strike, and rather landed with a variety of foot strikes including forefoot, mid foot and heel strikes, but we suspect that the most common form of foot strike was a forefoot strike. Mid-foot strikes were probably also more common than they are today.
These kinds of strikes (i.e. landing first on the lateral ball of the foot) lead to lower impact forces which may lead to lower rates of injury. We hypothesize and there is anecdotal evidence that forefoot or midfoot striking can help avoid and/or mitigate repetitive stress injuries, especially stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, and runner’s knee.
Harvard University http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/index.html
The Barefoot Professor: by Nature Video
Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman has ditched his trainers and started running barefoot. His research shows that barefoot runners, who tend to land on their fore-foot, generate less impact shock than runners in sports shoes who land heel first. This makes barefoot running comfortable and could minimize running-related injuries..read more. To find the original research click here.
I got a stress fracture, don’t you!
When I taught myself to be a midfoot striker without any formal guidance I got a stress fracture to my left tibia that stopped me from running for 4 months. It was only through Dr Nicholas R0manov’s teachings of the POSE Method that I learn’t how to transition and now run with a an effective midfoot strike. Romanov’s teaching’s are well chronicled over the last 40 years. His technique is logical and takes you through the transitions in stages to reduce your chances of injury.
A key aspect to his teachings is through the understanding of how to use your body’s GCM (General Centre of Mass),so you can use gravity to power your running for FREE. I was so impressed I undertook training in the POSE Method with Romanov’s POSE Tech, so that I can teach effective Natural Running techniques.
Barefoot Shoes and Minimalist Shoes
We do not make it a requirement to move away from traditional running shoes. However we recommend that if you wish to move across to a mid-foot strike natural running technique then you will need to consider ‘Barefoot Shoes’, ‘Minimalist Shoes’ and ‘zero-drop’ heel to toe ratio shoes or even ‘Barefoot Running’. If you intend to run barefoot we recommend this is done in stages, so please turn up with appropriate running shoes until guided otherwise.
We can offer advice on shoes that we have tried and tested. I personally use for road running the Vivobarefoot Neo, muddy trail running Vivobarefoot Neo Trails. I chose these 2 as they seem to be the only zero-drop with waterproof uppers that are still breathable. When in the forests I tend to use my Vibram FiverFingers KSO’s.
Natural Running Training with Wild Forest Gym
Natural Running Technique Training isn’t about jogging, but instead about how you can LEARN correct running form and REDUCE injuries based on the Dr Nicholas Romanov’s POSE Method of Running…read more.
1. Source http://www.chrismcdougall.com/barefoot.html – Author Chris McDougall of Born to Run
It’s interesting how modern running shoes have pretty much guided us to 1 form of landing and taken away the full capability of the foot. With the right footwear (or none!) we can experiment with different landings for varying circumstances, terrain, weather etc. Much more interesting!
I’d like to try out some KSOs. I’m using some Vivobarefoot Evos at the moment. Really like them although a little short on grip in wet conditions. They held up well in the snow today though
Hi Gary
Absolutely spot on. All you have to do is looking at the remaining tribal runners to determine what is the most natural way. Just look at the Tarahumara’s who are a Native American people of north western Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability.
They are barefoot or use flat sandals made from scrap rubber. Do you think they heal strike?
Feel free to keep this conversation going.
Forgot to say. I am surprised you find the Evo’s are poor in wet conditions. I am wearing the Neo’s and they have the same sole, and mine are fine in the wet. My suggestion is you might want to look at your running stride.
You see if you are landing with your foot under the GCM (general centre of mass) you shouldn’t have to worry about slipping. Possibly you have too large a stride and that your support foot is landing in front to your centre of mass and then you are pushing off the ground. This can cause poor grip with the surface. However, if your support foot lands under your GCM and you pull your foot from the ground then there is less chance of slipping.
This is a fundamental aspect of the POSE Method, which I endorse 100%.
Let me know what you think.
Cheers for the tip – I’ll be more mindful of that next time I’m out and see what I notice. It’s generally when turning a corner on a pavement for example – maybe I’m losing my form as I adjust? I was thinking about doing the lv 1 POSE cert this year. Have you done any of the courses?
Yeah the Tarahumara are really interesting – I’m not into distance running but it’s still fascinating what they can do. Did you see that study, I think last week about the tribe/ group that does use a heel landing? Would be cool to see some further research on that and why they have adopted that style. I think they would be in the minority as barefoot runners but there must be a reason that they have adapted that way of moving.
I found the POSE Method so effective that I trained with them. I would highly recommend.
Have you got the link to the tribal heel strikers, would be good to look into it?
Sure here it is http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2013/01/09/some-barefoot-runners-tip-orthodoxy-back-on-heels/
Thanks for that. Interesting read. Always good to bring other research into the debate on heal strike v’s midfoot strike.