…. say what? This study, that I will get to eventually, gives me the opportunity to address an issue I have been wanting to get to for a while, so the appearance of the research was timely. The issues surrounding forefoot varus and forefoot supinatus, even just not only on the terminology, but the diagnosis […]
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Clustering of foot strike patterns when running
While it is well known that the foot strike pattern does vary with velocity, it is not the sole determinant of the foot strike pattern as many elite runners heel strike when running fast and a runner’s self determination of their foot strike pattern appears to be poor. However, the data that quantifies velocity and […]
Will the first sub 2 hour marathon be run barefoot?
That is the claim in a new book; 1:59 The Sub-Two-Hour Marathon is Within Reach – Here’s how it will go down and what it can teach all runners about training and racing by Philip Maffetone. I have long had an interest in this and followed many stories and speculation on when and how it […]
Runners Beliefs About the Risk Factors for Injury
An individual’s health beliefs can be both a hindrance and an aid to the prevention and clinical management of health issues. A runners beliefs about the risk factors for running injuries are part of that wider context of health beliefs, so it was good to see a study starting to explore those issues: What Do […]
Risk Factors for Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome
A number of studies have looked at risk factors for medial tibial stress syndrome. I have blogged about a couple of recent ones here and here. When there are enough prospective studies on a topic, there is time for a meta-analysis and systematic review to pool all that data. Here is a new one on […]
Timing of ‘heel off’ in different running shoes
In the context of some of the issues that I wrote about yesterday concerning the problems with the “pronation” paradigm as the basis for prescribing running shoes, a number of years ago we decided to do a study looking at how a different parameter might be affected by the so-called ‘motion control design’ features of […]
Prescribing Running Shoes Based on Arch Height
I think we have known for a while that the data supporting a prescribing of running shoes based on the “pronation” paradigm is either lacking evidence or not supported, not withstanding the largely superficial understanding of the concepts and the superficial interpretation of the various studies and their implications. Some of the studies on this […]
How many runners who think they don’t heel strike actually do?
In the context of a previous post on foot strike pattern in a marathon… 94% were heel strikers and there was a statistically significant difference between the foot strike classification and race rank, with the forefoot strikers ranking ahead of the split strikers (asymmetry between left and right) who ranked ahead of the midfoot strikers […]
Foot Orthotics and Patellofemoral Pain
The focus in recent times on patellofemoral pain or anterior knee pain in runners has all been on the proximal issues despite two randomized controlled trials showing that distal issues (ie foot orthotics) work (see Collins et al & Eng et al). A number of proximal risk factors have been potentially identified and the concept of load reduction […]
Strengthening vs Stretching for Plantar Fasciitis
I previously wrote about the approach that I advocate and use for plantar fasciitis. Primarily its based around the principle of reducing the load in the tissue (short and medium term measures) and increasing the ability of the tissues to take the load (medium and long term measures). In the previous post I wrote in […]
The effects of foot orthoses on achilles tendon loads
Foot orthotics are commonly used to reduce load in the tissues to help manage overuse injuries in runners. They will only help if the injury is in a tissue that foot orthotics can actually reduce the load and the foot orthotic has the actual design features to reduce that load in the specific individual. When […]
Stress Fractures and the ‘Landing Error Scoring System’
Large prospective studies in military populations are a rich source of good data and information. The only problem with these types of studies are if the nature of the population is applicable and comparable to other populations that you might want to apply the results to. For my purposes here, are those in “the military” […]
The effects of shoes and barefoot on postural stability
I have no doubt about the importance of plantar sensory input has on normal gait, balance and postural stability; having spent many years looking at the impacts of diabetes and what the sensory neuropathy does to gait and balance. What I do have doubts about, and will address this in greater detail in a future […]
Science vs Pseudoscience
There is probably not a lot I can say about this; the image speaks for itself. It was put together by the Skeptics Guide to the Universe (I listen to their podcasts on my longer runs). I also used this image below in a previous post and its worth repeating as it still resonates with […]
Effect of listening to music on running
This is another one of those way outside my area of expertise, but I just have to write about it! I previously covered another study on Enhancing Running Performance by Coupling Cadence with the Right Beats in which I mentioned that when I listen to something while running, I listen to podcasts from The Skeptics […]