BAREFOOT RUNNING
Practitioners say barefoot can feel fun and euphoric
If I took my clients the barefoot route, we’d be setting them up for injuries, as they wouldn’t have the cushioning of trainers. You’re putting more strain on joints and risking stress fractures.”
Research findings Experts therefore don’t yet agree on whether barefoot is the way forward, not helped by the fact that the data available is confl icting and typically involves small samples. According to The University of Kansas
Hospital in the US, cushioned heels promote a heel strike, which distributes more energy to knees and hips than fl at- soled shoes and so is more likely to cause injury. But researchers at Brigham Young University in the US found that making the transition too quickly can increase injury risk to the bones of the foot, with a higher chance of stress fractures.
Sports scientists at National Taiwan
Normal University claim the way you run is more important than whether or not you wear running shoes. Their study, based on just 12 people, found that runners can gain more shock absorption by changing their striking pattern to a forefoot strike, whether in shoes or barefoot. However, the study also found that runners who are used to wearing shoes may be more susceptible to injury when they run barefoot and continue to heel strike.
What should operators do? So is there a way for gyms to tap into this trend and offer a service to members, keeping them running without injury and improving their performance? Deborah McConnell, global master trainer for Life Fitness Academy, recommends that any clubs wanting to run this type of programme use a trainer who is qualified
GOING BAREFOOT – FIRST PERSON REPORT
Kath Hudson reports on her experience of barefoot running:
“You have a pronounced heel strike, which creates a lot of movement for the body to control. Your foot has a long roll on the ground, which wastes energy. And it lands way in front of your centre of mass, which means there are lots of braking forces going on. You don’t extend from the hip but only use your quads, and none of the big muscles at the back. You don’t use the trail leg to get any speed and have no forward momentum. You have a slow, heavy cadence.” This was how Louise Nicholettos
summed up my running. In short, I’m slow and heavy-footed. But at least I had no comfort zone to retreat to! First, Louise got me to take off my clumpy trainers. Immediately I felt
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lighter and strangely liberated. This shortened my stride, which helped address a lot of my faults. She made me jump up and down on the spot in rhythm with the ideal cadence – roughly twice as fast as I was previously
“running”. Back on the treadmill, I had to focus on staying relaxed, running in time with the beat, staying vertical and letting my heels “kiss the ground” to give my calves a momentary break, and rise them higher with a slight kick action. Before we started, she told me
that barefoot running feels fun and euphoric. I didn’t believe her, but my experience did in fact give me a glimpse of this. After half an hour, she said I picked up the techniques quickly and she could make a runner out of me. This is very heartening: running is a skill that can be learned.
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in biomechanics of running and able to provide gait analysis: “It would also be best to have a waiver form that states any potential risks, to educate the member and to protect the trainer and the facility.” For facilities interested in taking
this further, advice is available. VIVOBAREFOOT offers a certifi cation through Premier Training, while Mahon is preparing to run workshops – designed with instructors and PTs in mind – on movement skills in gyms. Whether or not you are an advocate
of barefoot, technique training is a sensible option to offer members: it can potentially improve the performance of seasoned runners, and might just turn would-be runners on to the sport. As Saxby says: “Most people are never taught how to run correctly. However, running is a skill that must be learned in order to run effi ciently and injury-free. “Effi cient, injury-free movement is
built on a foundation of correct posture and rhythm and adequate sensory feedback of environment. Whether you’re running barefoot or minimalist, remember: posture, rhythm, relax.” But few are suffi ciently confi dent to
give barefoot a resounding endorsement. Nicholettos and Potter both treat running injuries and are cautious advocates: “I’m somewhere between a fanatic and a sceptic,” says Nichollettos. “For technique coaching purposes, barefoot can be a useful tool, but I coach a lot of runners in traditional footwear too. Technique and good training habits are the most important thing for me, not what people do or don’t wear on their feet.” Potter believes barefoot has an
important infl uence on how we should run, but concedes converting is a challenge and adequate data isn’t currently available. “My advice is choose a mid- range, minimally corrective shoe with some shock attenuation. If you want to take it seriously, get a running coach." ●
July 2013 © Cybertrek 2013
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM/DOTSHOCK
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