Anyone here tried barefoot running? I'm quite interested in the idea. I'm confused, though, about one point its aficionados make: that you spend too much energy striking the ground when you wear over-cushioning shoes. After a variety of (thankfully slight) knee and foot injuries (maybe due to over-training too young) I wonder about this, since I didn't wear very springy or protective shoes when I was training and competing as a young teenager. Perhaps, when I was younger, if I'd had the footwear available nowadays I wouldn't have problems! However, I must say, the way people run with shoes (striking the ground more heavily and more with the back of the foot) vs the way they run barefoot (a kind of light tiptoe) does interest me. I think that the barefoot runners might have something there. I think really I prefer to wear very light shoes and run on grass whenever possible, as I do now, rather than go completely barefoot.
No, it was in my glute; I perhaps did not stretch well enough before the run. Kyle is correct in that running can be bad on the knees and ankles, most likely due as you say to the reckless way people land in cushioned shoes. If you cannot go totally barefoot, I believe there are very thin soled shoes made by Nike/Reebok that simulates barefoot running. It is a very interesting idea, I might want to give it a try as well.
I would not recommend running any distance barefoot, unless you are on soft grass/sand or a treadmill. Much of the barefoot craze is based upon hype and misunderstood information. Yes, barefoot runners have better, safer, more efficient running form/posture. But shoed runners can have the same form. Proper form is not better than proper form + proper footwear. The key, my friends, is proper footwear. I will gladly help you in your selection process should you ask.
Hey Kyle, I'd be interested in knowing if there's any particular make of shoe you'd recommend for me? I have quite broad feet across the ball of the foot, normal instep, and rather narrow heels (so shoes tend to rub up and down--grr). I've tended to wear Reebock in the past. I had a small stress fracture in my right foot about seven years ago and I've had some slight cartilage wear in my knees (specially left) but no major probs. I run mainly middle distance 500-800m in dry conditions (and hot weather usually), most often on cinders or sand track. I wish I could run on a good track or grass more often but there aren't many facilities for amateurs here *sigh*
Give me a day or so (hopefully less, but I'm pretty busy at the moment with school) and I will post up detailed instructions on how to buy a pair of shoes and how to lace and tie them too (I bet you actually do not know this stuff, even if you think that you do)
Buying "good" shoes is very much a matter of personal running form - whether you over-/under-pronate or are a neutral runner, your specific cushioning needs, often dependent upon the terrain over which you run, and the distances/speeds at which you typically run. Buying shoes is a complex business that's hard to get right. I've been running forever and have found there are very few shoes that work for me. Many brands of footwear now have width measurements as well as standard sizing (I think Mizuno is one of these) for people with broad feet. Personally, I stick with Adidas.
After watching an episode of How It's Made on Discovery Channel, I became intrigued at the idea of buying a pair of custom made running shoes. There are a number of manufacturers. The price immediately squelched my intrigue.
Because my work schedule is 5 days on 4 days off, the 4 days off for the next four months will be my workout days. They will probably look like this: D1 - Chest / Abs D2 - Shoulders / Tri's D3 - Back / Bi's D4 - Legs While I'm getting back into it, I figure about 9-12 sets for major muscle groups and 6-9 for the smaller ones. I'll probably bump that up by July. On the 5 days off I will be walking / jogging / biking around a park for 10 hours a day smiling and talking to people (thats my summer job ) so I'm counting that as cardio / endurance. Also, I want my six pack back, I miss it:
Although, two days ago was my first day back and I didn't want to accept how much weaker I've gotten so I pushed myself a little too hard. Haha after a few sets I had the barbell stuck on my chest and some guy had to come over and help me out. Pretty embarrassing. So ugh, word to the wise, don't do what I did for anyone just starting off and take it slow to begin.
Hahaha that was almost me at the squat rack. I moved to free squats from a smith rack. I had the strength I needed, but not the stabilizers. When I reached the bottom of the squat, I damn near fell over backwards. New plan: Pyramid sets, start light and work my way into the heavy stuff.
I've been just trying to be more active in general. I've been hitting classes at the gym (Spinning torches tons of calories) doing some strength training and recently started running. I've changed the way I eat in that I'm trying to stick to fresher, healthier food and staying away from all that processed garbage that's become so prevalent in our society. That being said, I've lost over 20lbs. in the last few months AND today I bought a pair of jeans in a size I have not worn since about 9th or 10th grade. Hell yes.
Just did some online BF% measurements, I am at ~17% body fat, which is totally healthy for a male of my age, but higher than I want. I'm not sure if I want to bulk up and add some muscle or if I want to do a cut phase and lower my bf% (we are heading into summer after all). Which is more impressive, having muscles under fat (looking husky) or having a cut lean nothing-but-skeleton?
I can't sleep so what the hell, How to buy shoes Keep in mind that this is all internet advice so don't trust your life on it. For all any of us know, I could be Kim Jong Il out trying to cripple America in a literal sense. I'm going to claim that is not the case, but I'm sure he would too. The first thing to do is to determine what sort of foot you have. You will fall into one of 3 categories: Supinators, Pronators, Over-pronators. Supinators are people who walk on the outside (pinky toe) of their foot. Normally these people have really high arches and make awesome sprinters, but its not always the case. Hallmarks of long term supination include large bunions on the pinky knuckle, weird flipper shaped feet (you know it when you see it), pinky toes that tuck under the others, and chronic arch pain. Pronators (also called Neutral or 'normal' runners) are people lucky enough to be blessed with ideal feet. You do exactly what you need to, and have never known the hell that the rest of the world deals with. Consider yourself lucky. Over-pronators are people who are either flat footed or have collapsing arches. These people will walk on the inside of their feet. Hallmarks include chronic knee/hip/back pain, bunions on the big toe knuckle, callouses on the side of the big toe. This is very common among heavy and old people. So how do you tell what your foot is doing? Here are two easy tests: Look at your foot flow table: 1) Pick your foot up off the floor and look at it (while it dangles in the air) Do you have an arch? If no your foot is 'FLAT' If yes, go to next step. 2) Step down on the floor. Did your arch go away or noticeably drop down? If Yes, your arch is 'COLLAPSING' If no, go to next step 3) Look at your weighted arch. Is there enough room to park a school bus under there (this may be an exaggeration)? If Yes, you are a 'SUPINATOR' If no, you are a 'PRONATOR' The above test only works if everything else is correct and normal. By this I should be an over-pronator, but because of a different issue, I am a supinator. Because of this, do this other test as well (it is more accurate anyway) The old shoe test: Go find your oldest, most heavily worn pair of shoes. Flip them over and look at the bottoms. What you want to look for is the wear pattern. Compare them to my old approach shoes: Everyone (barring some really weird feet that are beyond the scope of this guide) is going to strike the ground on the outside back of the heel. What happens next is up to your feet. Supinators will follow the blue line. Wear will be concentrated on the outside of the shoe and the inside will be in noticeably better condition. Pronators will follow the red line. Wear follows a linear path from heel to big toe and the sole will be pretty evenly worn over. Over-pronators will follow the green line. The inside of the shoe will have the greatest wear, particularly in the front (under the big toe metatarsal). The pinky side of the shoe will be noticeably less worn. Take and draw a line along your wear pattern (like the gray one) to see what you do. In my example I can see that I tend to supinate and do so more on the left foot than the right. Sweet, now that you know what sort of foot you have you can start to consider a new runner.
(Continued from last page) So if you are a supinator or a pronator, you need what is called a 'neutral' shoe. These are shoes that have no correction and allow your foot to do its own thing. (While technically supination is the opposite of over-pronation, there is currently no corrective shoe device out there. Supinators make up a tiny market share too, so don't expect to see one developed. Ever.) Don't skip the next part however, as you need to know what to look for so you know what to avoid. Over-pronators are lucky enough to compose a large market share (60+% by some estimates) so lots of R&D have been poured into their plight. To correct the problems associated with dropping or missing arches, a device know as a 'medial post' is uesd. They look like this: That different colored foam in the midsole is a thicker density, and thus less able to compress under body weight. The end effect is that you are forced to run on a sloping wedge that corrects for your lack of arch. This is great for over-pronators but disastrous for neutral or supinated runners. I am repeating that last bit in a separate paragraph because it is that important. SUPINATERS AND NEUTRAL RUNNERS WILL CREATE KNEE/HIP/BACK ISSUES IF THEY USE A POSTED SHOE. Don't let the sweaty kid at foot locker sell you motion control if you don't need it. (Posted shoes cost more, so commissioned shops LOVE to sell them) The next thing to test is for mid-foot torsion resistance. Shoes that cost more than $45 usually have a small bit of plastic put in the middle of the shoe to resist torsion/flexing. In New Balance shoes the support piece is called "Stability Web" (the 'S' stamped on the bottom of your shoe) Reebock's DMX (but not DMX foam) provides this support. That I know of no one else advertises when they include the support bridge. An easy test is to try and flex the shoe in half (bottom of the toe to the bottom of the heel) if the shoe has a torsion piece, it will resist that flex. Compare a $29 Reebock classic to a $60 New Balance (look for stability web) to see what I am talking about. Not everyone needs this piece, but some of us do. People with chronic plantar fasciitis will benefit greatly from this support piece (I learned this through trial and error, best $5 upgrade I ever made). Beyond that, shoe buying is largely personal choice. Some brands will fit better than others, and sizing/fit will vary with different styles. I prefer to have a full thumbs width between my longest toe and the end of the shoe, you may be comfortable with a longer or shorter distance. Things to consider: More expensive =/= better. You do not need to buy more shoe than you need. Keep it simple and buy according to need. Trail shoes are different than road shoes. Trail runners have less shock absorption and luggier tread than their road equivalents. If you are going to run on roads buy a road shoe. If you are going to run on trails buy a trail shoe. If you want both, there are some hybrids (Salomon Wings XP is a good example) but remember that they are just compromises between the two classes. You may be better off with 2 different pairs. DO NOT BUY A POSTED SHOE UNLESS YOU NEED IT. Too often people buy this shoe or that shoe because their neighbor has it and swears its the best thing ever. Your neighbor has different feet than you do. Buy a shoe for your own feet, not theirs.
Lacing tips: Ever wonder what that hole is for? Its so you can do a neat lacing trick and fix that pesky heel slippage issue that has you wearing out socks like crazy. To do it lace your shoes like this: and then tie them like normal. It will pull your heel into the back of the shoe and fix the problem. This is great if you have after-market insoles (I highly recommend buying some) that cause your shoe to fit differently. Be sure you pulled the factory sock liner out before you installed the insole. While we are on the topic of normal shoe tying, Do you tie your shoes like this: and then normally tie a double knot to keep them from coming undone? If you add a second wrap: the lace will have enough friction on it to never untie, but you can still untie the laces with a single pull. Amazing!
I started getting out too, only a week so far but I'm already seeing results and feeling better. I run every other day (Mon, Tue, Wed) to avoid injury, every day stretches before and after and warm-up excercises. Cardio, ab stuff like crunches, leg stuff like flutter kicks (people at the park stare at me). A really good upper body workout is pullups, anywhere you see a horizontal bar that can support your weight...get it. Don't cheat yourself though, all the way up (chin above the bar) and down (lock out the elbows). Don't kick or swing to get momentum, it should be all arm/shoulder/back pulling. It makes you strong, not good for definition, but god it makes you brawly. Another good one is "the longest pushup". You start with one pushup, get on your knees, and push your arms up against the air like you're lifting an invisible box. Go back down to the pushup position, do two. Get back up, push up twice in the air, repeat. Try to get up to ten, and then...do the process in reverse all the way back down if you're a real trooper. By the time you're done, you have done 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10 pushups=55. It really burns the arms to do them like that. There are ways to bulk up without weights, since I am poor, I must use them! Sprints are good for stamina, actually I might try that tonight. It's important to change your diet too if you're like me and need to shed some pounds. Nothing to drastic at first, just be mindful of how much you eat, your calories and carbs. Stay away from sodas, drink lots of water and stay hydrated. If you don't get enough protein your workout was a waste, your body needs fuel to build muscle. And you need a bare minimum of carbs for energy if you expect to do anything too physical otherwise you will burn out after after a few laps. Sigh, let's see how this goes.:redface:
No one wants to hear that my goal is to gain some pounds. I know. Since I started back up in Jan, I have dropped two inches from my waist line and gained six pounds. Six good pounds. All where they should be.
I'm looking to gain too Wrey. I want to cut my BF% and put on some lean mass. I am on the fence between a bulk or a cut cycle right now. I think Bulk is winning, but I'm still unsure. Great to hear you put on 6 lbs of MUSCLE! that is awesome.
Many thanks. I was surprised that my body recouped as quickly as it did. I had taken nearly a year away from any all weights and I thought for sure that I had slid back to square one. I did loose some muscle mass. About a half in around my guns, and about a quarter inch in my forearms. I suffer from girlywrist, so I am especially attentive to my forearms. William (my b/f) has Popeye arms. My jealousy meter is pegged to the right. The larger muscle groups were the first to respond from dormancy. It was like the break never happened. Let me add that I take in MASSIVE amount of protein (whey isolate). I also take enzymatic supplements to be able to digest all the protein because otherwise, um, it can act as a laxative. No fun.
