A few days ago, Uncle Peter had mentioned reading an article on barefoot running and the potential benefits. Intrigued, I googled and read some interesting articles. While I will not be hanging up my running shoes anytime soon, the research on human locomotion with and without shoes is fascinating. The best part of the google search however, is shoe companies trying to capitalize on the barefoot trend. Example- Vibram Five Fingers and Nike Free. Nike once again nails it with the commercial-
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I can't make it a hyper-link in these comments, but here's the address for the New York Times article "The Human Body Is Built for Distance": http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/health/27well.html?_r=1.
The article makes two points. One, scientific evidence shows that humans evolved to be endurance runners; it's in our DNA. So, unless you're logging the miles, you're not in touch with who you really are. Second, the article asks the question, so why do we get injured running? Answer (in part): high-tech shoes.
Very interesting article, though most scientific studies are usually pretty flawed. Mainly the experimental group, the runners without shoes are hardcore dedicated runners versus a mix a casual and athlete runners- the second group is obviously prone to more injuries.
I agree we have evolved running to out endure our prey but a marathon or any races is completely different running (hence not too many barefoot record holders). To out endure is to conserve energy for killing killing prey, marathon is to push your body to its absolute limit in order to win. Marathon should be more taxing on ligaments and tendons due to speed than continually forcing animals out of shade to die of heat exhaustion.
Also there are more injuries as a result of more runners, uneducated runners and older runners. The human body for men begins to break down in the low 30s, our DNA isn't built to run endurance in older ages hence rates of injures grow as America and its runners age.
I definitely agree amateurs runners have bad form and shoes can support these motion mechanics. Shoes, I believe play a lot less of a role in injuries and its advantages outweigh its support of bad mechanics. Protecting the feet from hazards such as physical (glass), and environmental harm (snow) etc. The main culprit is probable improper stretching, hard surfaces, bad running form and age.
My 2 cents is a lot longer than I thought.
Pete that weirds me out since I've been told that marathon runners are in their prime at their low 30s. If you look at the fastest marathoner in the world he was 35 when he set the record and the top marathoners all mostly around that age. I would then suggest that we may start to break down a little after 30s maybe early 40s.
On second thought, maybe some muscles break down but not the ones for long distance running? do we see many 30 year olds in the olympics?
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