Runner’s World asked for some key points to think about as we edge-up in years. It happens to all of us at some point right?
Disclaimer: the advice mentioned in this article is not meant to replace Botox
The media at large has done a dis-service to you, the consumer. They love polarizing images. They love the battle between overly built-up clodd-hopper motion control shoes vs. naked feet. They try to instantly declare one “better” than the other. The reality is that the barefooot buzz has been incredible for ALL athletes. No matter which side of this polarizing topic you stand on, it has directed attention on form. And that’s one of the main things really.
Let’s clear out the sewer lines folks. Barefoot is very DIFFERENT from running in shoes. Sure a good number of folks switch their contact style from rearfoot to forefoot when going barefoot, but a lot DON’T. And while the media loves to harp on this one single factor, its like saying only one tree in the entire forrest is important. And that’s just not true.
Its not so much forefooot vs rearfoot here, its more about where the foot is in relation to the body that counts. Striding too far in front of the body results in bad things. Your feet were meant to be beneath you – not flying out in front. Imagine running over ice. Anyone feel safe over-striding on ice? Didn’t think so……But its not just “runners” who are beginning to take notice. Other “running athletes” are asking question too.
Recently, I had a conversation with basketball journalist Steve McPherson. He was asking me about the apparent rise of injuries in basketball, and wanted to know if anything from all this barefoot hoopla translates over to the hoop. Steve did an excellent job with this piece, “What can the NBA learn from barefoot running?” I recommend you take a look, whether you run with barefeet, wrapped feet, or a ball.
Here at UVA, I teach a course called Neuro-muscular Basis of Human Movement, and today we are speaking of all things running mechanics. One of my students made an analogy that actually tells us a lot about running. Well, the analogy doesn’t really tell us that much, but a host of really angry and pissed off birds will….. Yes–> those angry birds!
Angry Birds is a simple game ( if it’s so simple, why has our country’s gross national product dropped since its launch????) that forces us to abide by the laws physics. Your goal, of course, is to knock out those smirky smiling pigs at various locations. You learn very quickly that aiming too high blasts your bird up to the clouds, at the expense of sacrificing distance. Aiming too low also compromises distance. Aiming just right produces the greatest distance covered with a pull of the slingshot….. The fancy name for this would be the optimum trajectory
While you don’t have to land on a pig when running, you do try to cover a given amount of distance per stride. In fact, the definition of running economy would be to cover a given distance with as little energy as possible. Too much up and down motion while running wastes a lot of energy. Actually about 80% of the energy required to run comes from raising and lowering the body against gravity. So “aiming too high”- too much vertical rise an fall- is not a smart move.
A lot of people get this. The problem is that they take it to the opposite extreme. They tell us that we need to minimize the rise and fall of our body. Does this play out? Go play angry birds again, and aim your bird dead flat. Pull back all the way and watch your bird take flight….. It won’t go very far. Limiting the up and down motion of the body when running not only ensures you won’t go far with each stride, it also costs a lot of energy! Go for a run and try to keep your head as still as possible- you won’t be able to do this for long- its tough!
So what is best? If you try to get maximum distance per fire on angry birds, you’ll find that about 45 degrees gives you the greatest distance. So does this mean that you should aim for this when running? Well, not exactly. The body isn’t a bird, a cannon ball, or any other type of projectile. It’s an actively controlled spring that actually stores and releases elastic energy to help you move forward. Some amount of vertical rise and fall is actually beneficial to “load the slingshot” and store and release this elastic energy. Exactly how much depends on your body weight, your leg length, and your pace, and your contact time. A sort of nice number is around 4-6 cm of vertical rise and fall of the body typically produces optimal results. In labs like ours at UVA, we study this kind of stuff to tweak your economy.
The take home message is that some rise and fall is necessary, even advantageous, when running.* So when someone tells you that a runner is efficient because their head stays perfectly still when running, maybe you should hand them your smartphone and tell them to play a little game.
* note- excessive rise and fall of your phone, as in when you throw it against the wall after not beating a level for the 37th time, isn’t recommended.
Check out the report WIRED magazine did of my talk with ESPN writer Henry Abbott at SXSW music festival. Likely the only time I’ll get to say I presented at the same conference as Al Gore, Bruce Springsteen, Seth MacFarlane, Jay-Z, and Jeffery Tambor (unfortunately not on the same stage at the same time!)
Nice summary, except they didn’t really get one critical point across. You CAN improve your hip flexibility and your hip strength!
Check out the WIRED article here and check out this link I did for Runner’s World a while ago on improving hip mobility
Looking to get into “less” shoe? Don’t understand why you need to make some changes in your body to help this process? Looking for some help moving towards something new? Check out this month’s issue of Running Times to check out an article I wrote with my colleague, Dr Mark Cucuzzella, on a smooth and successful transition to minimal running shoes.
And if you’d like to see the print word come to life, check out the video “are you ready for minimal” by yours truly on the www.runningtimes.com homepage. Also on their youtube channel here.
Thought I’d share this with you guys, because it’s a bit different than most of the cases I see here in the lab on a daily basis. So the phone rang on today. The caller ID just said “North Pole” – not knowing what to expect, I picked up and surprisingly spoke to Ms Claus! She spoke very frantically. Santa was overheard in the background, and did not sound jolly. One of their athletes was down for the count less than one week before the big day, and they were in serious need of our services. ASAP. Rudolph is suffering from Achilles pain, and can’t fly at race pace. At his current speeds, they’ll be about 8.5 hrs behind Christmas-Eve night delivery schedule. Kids on all sides of the world should all be able to wake up to their loot. Running late is not an option.
Seems like all this global warming has taken its toll on a number of fronts. Yes, its hotter, and more of you are driving Prius’s (or is that Priui???), and sea level is rising – but folks, reality is now staring you in the face…. and its taking your Christmas presents with it. Typically, the reindeer wind up their training volume when the snow starts to fall in the end of October. This year, October saw record high temperatures. Instead of training, the reindeer were sunning themselves at the lake. A typical week in October looks like this:
The Elves in the training room had to be pulled out to help with some last minute Xbox orders, and they are understaffed. So Donner and Blitzen volunteered to get Rudolph down here within 2.5 hours The made it in 2:10. For starters, Rudolph is super nice – a bit too much on the Type-A sometimes, but I guess its that kind of work mentality that gets you to lead the sleigh year after year. He said this is the first time he has been injured. He even did weekly jogs sans horseshoes in the early summer after reading “Born to Run”, but he thought it was the sudden ramp up in volume that really got him.
Head Elf stretches Rudolph after last week
So, we did what we normally do. Got some markers on Rudolph and threw him on the treadmill. Results? Well, Rudolph has some serious imbalances going on. Pretty weak stabilization of his right rear ankle, and some inflammation of his bursae seem to be the culprit here. But the real issue was his weak right hip. Failure to drive off with his hip was actually increasing the stress on the achilles. Using data on our force-measuring treadmill, we cued him to use more of his glutes to stabilize his hip. We fit him for some minimal horseshoes to reduce the lever arm on his ankle. Lastly, we gave him some self-mobilizations he could do on the rooftops to keep him supple throughout the night. So how’d it go? Well, here’s hoping that all of you have something special under the tree on Christmas morning…..on time. Happy Holidaze!!!!
My good friend, Dr Mark Cucuzzella, did a nice write up from some of our work on the Natural Running Center site here (of which I am an advisory board member).
Why? Well – you can’t change your arch height -and don’t need to. There is no evidence to show that static arch height really makes a difference since passive structural joint position gets throw out the window when doing something active like running. My friend Pete Larson sums this up nicely here on his infamous runblogger.com (which just make Outside magazines list of Top 10 Sports blogs – nice Pete!
Its high time to dismiss the notion that shoes can “stop” pronation don’t you think? Because there is no evidence to show that they do. This entire concept should go the way of pet rocks, stonewashed jeans, and shoulder pads. What’s important are the muscles, and they can be trained to keep your foot position in check as you run.
Maybe you should practice standing on one foot under the mistletoe this weekend? Or maybe just binge on eggnog. Merry christmas everyone !!!
If you’ve read our blog in the past, you’ve seen our findings on successful transitions to minimal and barefoot running. Running Times magazine approached myself and Dr Mark Cucuzzella to write a piece for the upcoming April edition. Lots of good wisdom, pics, and video to come……. But that has nothing to do with why this post is cool.
Do you ever wonder what it takes to get those cool cover shots you see on all the mags? Perfect lighting, perfect smiles, perfectly trained runner’s bodies lightless treading through the viewfinder…. Likely with a full hair and make-up team, and a full catered spread for lunch….. Well, I’m here to tell you otherwise. All you need is:
1 fast career runner ( something like 25 years of marathons under 2:45, PR of 2:24)
A subaru with a pilot, flash operator, One closed downhill subdivision road, and our fearless cameraman, Joel Wolpert. Here’s Joel at almost 20 mph downhill on my longboard. It’s rain/misting and slick as anything. Notice he’s focused on the shot, not the road. That my friends, is zen.
Here’s to all of you and your inner paparazzi !
Jay Dicharry's Website, An Athlete's Body 