Middle Pack

This is the 2nd part of my series into changing running style. It will focus on the research around footwear, barefoot and minimal shoes vs motion control and cushioned fancy shoes. I will go into actual running technique in another post.

On delving round the internet I was quite amazed at the amount of peer reviewed articles out there in the public domain discussing this area. Most of it was not on the side of the big shoe companies.Much of this current interest can be traced to the book, Born to run by Christopher Mcdougall and recent research by Dr Craig Richards however this research has been in the public domain for many years and it is only with the publishing of a book with a good story i.e. Born to run that we the running public are catching up.

The first statistic that is often mentioned is that the % of running injuries has not decreased in the last 30 years. So this would imply that on a basic level we, as runners are not getting the protection we expect from our shoes. Research was also publish back in 1989 telling us that statistically the more expensive your shoes the more injuries you tend to have. This could have any variable such as if you buy expensive running shoes you will more than likely have higher mileage than someone in cheap shoes. But another study found that the more cushioning or softer the landing then the harder you strike the ground. Thus meaning the better the cushioning the harder the strike.

So the basic interpretation is the more expensive the shoe and the better it cushions you, the more you will slap your foot down and the more likely you are to be injured. The cushioning sends the wrong signals to the brain about the impact force and this leads to overuse injuries.

I could write a huge essay on this but I though it better to just skim some stuff and signpost you to things I found out there. I have tried to stick with proper research and not hearsay and anecdotal evidence. Unfortunatly for the majority of shoe companies, this means it is kind of one sided.

Here are a few good research links

The first three links show that the amount of cushioning in your running shoes are pretty much irrelevant to the body. It will change and adapt to the amount of cushioning available. The caveat is when you are told through advertising that it will protect you from injury due to cushioning, you will subconsciously land harder due to less perceived risk. The next three links look more at running barefoot and the human adaptation over time.

Do you get value for money from expensive running shoes

Running in New and Worn Shoes – A Comparison of Three Types of Cushioning Footwear

Hazard of deceptive advertising of athletic footwear

Barefoot running and injury occurrence

Athletic footwear an inury (A long essay but with much research)

Barefoot Running: A Natural Step For The Endurance Athlete?

Humans are adapted to long-distance running without shoes (PDF)

Now I never thought I would ever say this, however there is a good article in the Daily Mail that came out about barefoot running which is worth a read.

I have been lucky enough to work at a University so I have been able to access the full research papers in these links, however for a quick skim read the summary tells you all the important stuff without getting bogged down by the scientific evidence.

It seems like there is no evidence that shoes protect you from injury apart from anecdotal evidence. The more you pay the more likely you are to get injured due to perceived protection therefore greater impact when running leading to overuse impact injuries. Even to the point where challenges have been made to the shoe company to prove with research that technology is helping runners.

Now all these studies can be picked apart. Much of this research is looked into on the science of sport blog which is worth a good thorough read. They did a series of in-depth article that are very much worth reading as it takes a scientific approach to picking apart any research in an objective and independent way.

So in summary there is a raft of factual evidence that we are being led to believe the more expensive shoes with the most up to date technology will protect us from ourselves and the hard unrelenting concrete. Not all the evidence is rock solid research but there is enough of it to make me question what I thought I knew, and to make me look for alternatives. I have also ordered Born to run by Christopher Mcdougall from amazon and will keep an eye out for any other info out there.

• 3 Comments »
• Tags: barefoot, research, shoes