Common Misconceptions About Minimalist Running Shoes

Exercise

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Jenny Cromack

The notion of wearing minimal running shoes or even running barefoot to automatically improve running performance is quite misguided. Like many complex training approaches and topics we have a tendency to simplify complex ideas into one size fits all recommendations. I can assure you when it comes to minimal running shoes, barefoot running or running shoes in general one size does not fit all! This blog looks at the minimalist running shoe and barefoot running.

Many runners view running shoes particularly barefoot shoes or minimal shoes as a remedy for improving poor running form, reducing their chance of injury or making them a more efficient runner. Minimalist running shoes have become the terrorist of the running world with so many runners adopting the belief that they can simply become a better runner by running forefoot and wearing these barefoot or minimal shoes.

Unfortunately this is not true, here are some of the most common misconceptions regarding minimal running and minimalist running shoes, backed by peer reviewed research, not what Toby at running club has told you.

Top 3 Misconceptions

Automatically wearing minimalist running shoes will make me an efficient forefoot runner: Simply wearing some barefoot trainers or minimal shoes will not make you an efficient forefoot runner, in fact it’s likely to lead to an injury if you make the change quickly. What really happens is far more complex. When you wear these minimal running shoes you develop awareness of where you’re putting your foot, i.e. it is more beneficial to land under your body’s center of mass instead of ahead of it. However to move the foot to the desired location on impact you need to improve hip extension, it doesn’t matter what trainers you wear if you can’t sufficiently extend the hip guess what your running style will be the same whether you’re wearing barefoot trainers or normal cushioned trainers.

Minimal shoes reduce the force at the point of contact with the ground: Anybody that tells you this has been very misguided, just because you’re wearing minimal running shoes doesn’t mean you have instantly become Mo Farah with Olympic quality running form, it will be pretty much the same with or without these shoes. More importantly if you do wear minimal running shoes and do not work on other areas to develop and change your running form, research has demonstrated up to 40% increase in vertical ground reaction forces. This will dramatically increase your chances of injury not help like many would have you believe.

Minimalist running shoes are the secret to running fast after all that’s what are ancestors did: Footwear companies love to tell runners that their shoes make you more efficient, this isn’t backed up by any real research and to be honest how the hell do they know what will make your running better, unless they have examined how you run there is no way to tell. What current research is showing is that what’s most important for improving efficiency is the weight of the shoe, however with current technology being amazing as it is, we are able to buy supportive shoes that weight less that a handful of change.

Now I don’t want you to leave this blog with the idea that minimal running shoes are dreadful, that is not what i want to get across in fact its quite the opposite. You need to find what shoes suit your CURRENT running style, to do this you need to see a specialist! As a personal trainer in Leeds I can highly recommend the Up and Running team in Leeds City Center http://www.upandrunning.co.uk/leedscentral . If over time you want to play around with different running styles, of which I highly recommend you do, you need to gradually implement the subtle changes to avoid injury. Learning about how you run and what you do well and bad can be the most beneficial thing you do in terms of your running performance.

 

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