5 Tragic Running Techniques, Thanks to Shoes

Search

// you’re reading...

Barefoot Running

5 Tragic Running Techniques, Thanks to Shoes

By Al Gauthier ⋅ January 10, 2009 ⋅

5 Tragic Running Techniques, Thanks to Shoes

Okay, I’ll admit it, I stare at runners. I do. I can’t help looking at nearly every runner that I see. Driving to work in the morning I’ll find myself slowing down just enough to catch a few strides of a morning runner.

It amazes me how dramatically running shoes alter, err… break, something as primitive and hard-wired within us as running.

What’s more interesting is how differently it effects people’s gait. Mainstream running verbiage classifies a runner one of three ways: over-pronator, neutral, or under-pronator (supinator). I never quite understood the reasoning of this system. Instead, over the years I’ve kept a mental journal of (bad) running forms, all thanks to the modern running shoe. I may be missing a few, so feel free to add ‘em here.

Here are 5 tragic running techniques all thanks to shoes:

1) The Slapper. Your heard right. The unmistakable slapping sound some runners make when their shod feet literally slap flat on the pavement. Just this past week while in a local park enjoying an outdoor lunch, a runner slapped past our picnic table. [By running barefoot you will naturally land softly and quietly]

2) The Bouncer. This one’s often seen combined with the Slapper. Actually the poor soul (sole) from the park was a ‘bouncing slapper’. Bouncers always provide an interesting show as their vertical movement appears nearly equal in length with their forward motion. [By running barefoot you should naturally lean forward slightly thus letting gravity help propel you forward]

3) The Heel Striker. You’ll often hear about heel-to-toe as the correct running form or technique. Eh, wrong. Take your shoes off and running across the house quickly, you will barely heel-strike. Thanks to the thick positive heels in runners, heel-strike is almost guaranteed in most runners. [By running barefoot you'll only touch with your heel, most runners will mid/fore foot land while running]

4) The Side Roller. Sorry, but “that’s how I roll” is no excuse. This fundamentally dangerous move is usually developed after years of running, and typically a favorite of ‘jogger’s’. This is a heel-to-toe roll variation but with predominance of one’s ‘roll’ out the outside of your foot, also known as a supinator. [I don’t even think this one’s possible barefoot]

5) The Shuffler. This one’s a classic. Similar to the less seen (heard) Slapper variety. This tragic style appears visually as if the feet are crying out “I’m tired, this sucks, are we there yet?” The Shuffler is unmistakable evidence of how our foot muscles are asleep when running in shoes. Don’t let this one fool you; it’s a silent destroyer. [By running barefoot your feet, body and mind are in constant communication thus assuring proper technique and no lazy feet]

Happy (barefoot) trails!

Original Here

Enjoy More Living Barefoot Articles and Reviews

Download and Listen to any Audiobook for only $7.49. Save 50% for 3 months on over 75,000 Titles.

___________________________________________________________________________

Featured Interview: Christopher McDougall – Author of Born to Run

Listen HERE

Christopher McDougall is a well-spoken, humble man who has through the popularity of his book brought about some of the biggest changes in the perception of feet and running in recent years. Join us in learning about how this talented author wrote his book, discovered his feet, and how he feels about barefooting and running. This interview should not be missed.

We Talk about:

- Chris’s recent appearance at the TED Conference

- Thoughts on Interviews In General

- His first exposure to barefoot running

- How he came to find the Tarahumara while on assignment for the New York Times.

- He thoughts on his influence over barefoot running and ultra running

- How he struggled with writing Born to Run

- This thoughts on minimalist shoes

- And much more!

To learn more about Christopher McDougall visit his website: http://chrismcdougall.com

Buy His Book: Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
Download the Audible Audiobook

Find “Living Barefoot” in iTunes and download it onto your iPod / iPhone or listen online

————

Keep Yourself Connected:

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed, Listen to or download our Podcasts, subscribe to our RSS feed, or Subscribe to our email updates.

Recent Minimalist Shoe Reviews: Stay updated by being notified when we release a new reviews. Subscribe Here.

Give us your support!

As Living Barefoot continues to grow our costs keep increasing. In order to cover the many costs necessary to provide our readers and listeners with the great quality reviews and content on Living Barefoot we would like to request your help.

If you like what we are doing, we are asking for a tiny contribution to show your support. We guarantee you won’t notice the missing contribution, but if enough people participate, it can be a significant contribution to help continue to innovate and bring you great reviews, news, and personalities through the Living Barefoot Show.

What will we do in return? We’ll continue to offer you great free news, reviews, and guest interviews on our show. We will also decrease the amount of advertising on our site as subscriptions increase.

Donate as little as $1 monthly. The subscription will simply deduct $1 from your bank or credit card monthly. You can cancel the automatic withdrawal at any time. You won’t notice $1, but we will!