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Friday, March 12, 2010

Unshod (Day Two)

Went for a jog in my new shoes again today to loosen up some stiff muscles.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful this week, which reminds me... "can I go back to California yet?"


Some sources suggest that unnatural form, and not solely heel-striking, is to blame for many running maladies.  This seems likely, though I would still argue that overzealous, running-shoe-enabled heel-striking is one of the most common sins.

The root of the problem seems to be 'unnatural running' and the modern equipment that enables it - the overpadded shoes, the asphalt and concrete, treadmills, perfectly flat and uniform tracks.

Asphalt and concrete have extraordinarily high elastic moduli, though it could be argued that we've been running on a variety of similarly-rigid surfaces for a very long time.

Treadmill junkies and track runners are blowing knees and ankles every quarter-mile on REAL surfaces, and how is it at all surprising?  All of that oversupported, flat, uniform, rigid, endless straight-line running does nothing to condition the stabilizing muscles that are absolutely necessary for robust real-world running.  Treadmill running makes you really good at treadmill running, and that's about it.

A good analogy would be the typical gym rat - comically oversized muscles, obscene single-rep maximum loads... but when placed in an environment with REAL resistance (jiu jitsu, for instance), they just don't measure up.  Time after time, I was surprised by how easy it was to overpower (not just outmaneuver) these types.  The reason is the same: picking up and setting down a heavy object, over and over again, makes you you really good at picking up and setting down that heavy object.  If that's your goal, that's fine, but useful power comes from realistic training.

1 comment:

  1. I agree and disagree with some parts of this analogy.

    Running issues are definitely brought about in today's world with the invention of the cross-trainer. However, it has been slightly worse- athletic cleats in the early 90s through about present day stood as what I believe were the key component in ankle injuries for many an athlete. If you want a good look at why this part of your argument's correct, look no further than the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico, who grooms the world's fastest athletes on dirt trails- barefoot.

    However, the argument that "picking up a heavy object, etc only lets you become better at picking up a heavy object, etc" is slightly off-base. I don't necessarily agree with traditional power lifting techniques either (I always found that plyometrics give a better result, as you can more easily integrate this into actual sport), but if one is able to build their body to an enhanced level AND able to integrate this level to his or her desired skill, then the payoff can be positive. A key look at this would be to skim stats from the NFL combine this spring, where your best athletes often are not the guy who benches 400 pounds, but isn't necessarily putting up obscure numbers in his regimen. Don't like football, hockey, or basketball, for which this opinion is true? The vast majority of the American public does, so in the context of our culture, this argument holds. (Hey, that east section of the library on the other side of campus didn't build itself from tuition dollars, and I'm glad of that).

    Now for a completely uneducated opinion- Is it with martial arts? No, as that seems to be mostly technique-based (note I left baseball from the big four out above), but I believe that given an even playing field with skill that the victor of a contest would be the one who is more physically trained than the other under the condition that they are able to apply it.

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