Just days after I lament that a recent case control study did not include factors that there is increased interest in when it comes to medial tibial stress syndrome and also noting that prospective studies provide a more powerful conclusion than a case control study, we have a prospective study which included the factors that […]
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Strength Training for Runners to Prevent Injury
I have to admit the the use of strength training for runners, especially to prevent injury is not something I have paid a lot of attention to. I am ‘old school’ and just want to go for a run. You train for running by running. I have been noticing more and more people talk about […]
Risk factors for medial tibial stress syndrome
Determining the risk factors for any particular injury is important as some are modifiable and addressing these can be used to lower the risk for injury. The best way of doing this is to take a group of runners with no current injury, measure a whole lot of things in them and then prospectively follow […]
I did a Chi Running course!
POSTSCRIPT: This is a bit embarrassing. It turns out the “coach” that run the course I did was NOT a credentialed Chi running coach and was operating outside the framework or umbrella of the Chi running organisation. Please interpret the comments I make below in that context. _____________________________________________________________ I will start by saying that I […]
Kinematic changes after 12 weeks of running in minimalist running shoes
One of the potential shortcomings of kinematic, kinetic and metabolic studies of barefoot or minimalist running versus traditional shod running is that acute interventions are often used, rather than a prolonged period of habituation to the different conditions under study. It is not known if what is found in these acute intervention studies will still […]
Running shoe midsole hardness has no effect on running injury rate
It has been well documented that there is a lack of evidence underpinning the most prominent paradigms or models for the prescription of running shoes. That lack of evidence does not mean it is right or wrong, it just means the evidence is lacking as the research has not been properly done in any significant […]
Decreasing vertical impact loads via increasing ankle loads in Chi Runners
Hot on the heels of the systematic review last week that confirmed the adage that you can’t decrease the load in one tissue without increasing it in another and that different running techniques load different tissues differently, we have another study: A Comparison of Negative Joint Work and Vertical Ground Reaction Force Loading Rates between […]
Just How Significant are Heel Impacts at Causing Injury When Running?
I have always really struggled to understand why there is so much fuss about reducing impact forces to treat and prevent overuse injuries in runners. Everywhere you go in the crankosphere blogosphere heel impacts are the cause of all evil and have to be eliminated at all costs. Even in the scientific literature, for example, […]
Continuing to heel strike after transition to minimalist running shoes
I blogged back in July about a study that showed: Increased Lower Limb Loading with use of Minimalist Running Shoes and now we have another related publication: Short term changes in running mechanics and foot strike pattern following introduction to minimalistic footwear. Willson JD, Bjorhus JS, Williams B 3rd, Butler RJ, Porcari JP, Kernozek TW. […]
Yet another study shows heel striking is more efficient than midfoot striking
The running economy studies on rearfoot vs midfoot/forefoot and barefoot/minimalism vs shoes have been coming thick and fast this year and they pretty much all showing the same thing. I should not need to relitigate the issues I have bloged about here, here, here, here, here and here! So straight to it: This one was […]
Different Running Techniques Load Different Tissues Differently
Ever since I started this blog and for a long time before that, I have been banging on about two sayings: 1. Different running techniques load different tissues differently 2. You can not offload one tissue without increasing the load in another¹ This means that there is no one right way to run for everyone. […]
Plantar Fasciitis – how then do you treat it?
After writing a previous post criticizing some rhetoric and propaganda on plantar fasciitis¹, I got a couple of complaints that I did not say how to treat it! I didn’t as that was not the purpose of the article! Plantar fasciitis is so common, that everyone is an expert in it. Self diagnosis and self […]
Kinesio Taping for Foot Posture Problems?
Kinesio taping became all the rage after the TV images of athletes wearing the brightly colored tape on their shoulders and knees for injuries at the 2008 Bejing Olympics. So, of course if Olympic athletes are using it then it must be right and if its a pretty color then it must be even more […]
The concept of ‘Supination Resistance’
For some time now the link between ‘overpronation’ and overuse injury has been known to be tenuous, but the most recent evidence does suggest that there is a small, but statistically significant risk for injury (but then that depends on how you want to spin that evidence and actually define what ‘overpronation’ even is, but […]
Enhancing Running Performance by Coupling Cadence with the Right Beats
This is another one of those ‘getting a bit outside my area of expertise‘ topics, so I not going to say a lot about it. It did catch my eye, especially in the context of all the recent research on running cadence and all the commentary on the role of changing the cadence to manage […]