I often enjoy playing the provocateur and can frequently make statements to have that effect. They are not done to be mischevious but are typically done to encourage critical self-reflection, mostly in the context questioning one’s own clinical practice and reflecting on improving that. There is always a context and a purpose. Often those comments […]
Tag Archives | gait retraining
Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners?
I just going to leave this one there with no commentary… Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners? Joseph Hamill & Allison H. Gruber Journal of Sport and Health Science; 28 February 2017 Some researchers, running instructors, and coaches have suggested that the “optimal” footstrike pattern to improve performance and reduce running injuries is land […]
The importance of joint moments in running injury risk and running economy
Back from a holiday and was planning on getting in back into the routine of posting and was planning on writing something totally different today and then the study below turned up. It was not a study on runners and was not on running (it was on walking), so my title for this post is […]
Reduction in Ground Reaction Forces with Barefoot Running
One of the more common arguments for barefoot running (or at least transitioning to minimalist shoes or just a forefoot/midfoot strike) is that it is easier to more lightly contact the ground and eliminate the magnitude of impacts associated with a heel strike. Now we have this study that looked at the magnitude of reduction […]
The concept of ‘core stability’ of the foot
The concept of spinal ‘core stability’ is given a lot of prominence in the media, by coaches and by therapists and is allegedly an important concept for prevention of running injury, low back pain and postural related issues. It has gained widespread acceptance. Despite this, the definitive evidence supporting the concept is lacking; anecdotally a […]
What happens during the swing phase that is related to impact loads?
The biomechanics of peak impact loads and loading rates continue to be researched on the assumption that they are related to an increased risk for injury. I keep harping on about the evidence for that is hardly compelling and there is plenty of evidence that it is not a risk factor for injury and some […]
Gait variability associated with minimal footwear during running
Variability from step to step is considered a good thing as this means the same tissues are not necessarily loaded to the same extent with each step. There is evidence that shows that injured runners display reduced variability compared to healthy runners. Joe Hamill and colleagues originally looked at this concept in detail. Despite this […]
Impact Reduction Through Changing to Midfoot Strike Pattern vs Low Drop Footwear
There has been considerable interest recently in altering running technique to reduce impact loads and loading rates in the belief that this might reduce injury rates. There was a recent study I previously wrote about and now there is this one: Impact reduction through long-term intervention in recreational runners: midfoot strike pattern versus low-drop/low-heel height […]
Does Barefoot Running Lead to a Higher Arch of the Foot?
I am assuming that you have all seen the claims made many times in the barefoot running books, You Tube video’s, blogs and forum posts that barefoot running can increase the height of the arch of the foot due to an increase in muscle strength. Yet you never see any evidence quoted to support the […]
Critique of ‘are you ready for minimalism’ preparation tests
There are a number of tests or evaluations that are recommended before starting the transition to minimalism or barefoot running. I have come across various permutations of these tests on a number of blogs, articles and books and most recently in Scott Douglas’s Runners World Complete Guide to Minimalism and Barefoot Running (a good book!), but I […]
Impact Reduction with Chi Running
When new research is published, its always intriguing to watch how different communities respond to it and the interpretation or spin that gets put on it¹. I already discussed the The ‘Running Shoes Causing Knee Osteoarthritis’ Debacle in a previous article and how the spinning and re spinning of false headlines lead to a myth. This […]
The nonsensical understanding of ‘overpronation’
The understanding of ‘overpronation’ on running blogs, forums, magazines and in the running shoe retail community has become so nonsensical its laughable and that nonsensical understanding is also filtering into the health professional community. Everyone who can spell the word seems to have become an expert in it and have an opinion on it. In […]
Shoe Wedging or Gait Retraining for Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome?
Medial tibial stress syndrome is the more common condition that gets lumped under that way overused, meaningless and stupid term, ‘shin splints‘. There is somewhat of a muddled picture as to exactly what medial tibial stress syndrome really is (ie bone stress injury, periostitis, muscle insertion problem, etc or a combination of some those). There […]