Runners revolution...does it work?

AngieB988

I've been reading the "Runners Revolution" book that argues for forefoot running instead of a heel strike. As well as running with minimalist shoes. I've been a runner for over a decade and want to try it, but would love to hear if others have had success with this.

janejellyroll

The only major injury I ever had was when I attempted to switch to a minimalist shoe. I was advised to make the transition gradually and I thought I was, but apparently I added too many miles at once. So if you do decide to switch, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to adjust. I wound up spending almost six weeks not running and decided I prefer more support in my running shoes.

NorthCascades

I don't think there's One Right Way, and everybody would do better if they followed it. I think minimal shoes work really well for some people but not for others. (How do you find out? Best way I can think of is to try it, unfortunately.)

Take @janejellyroll's advice to heart. If you want to go minimal, get your shoes at a running shoe store, have them evaluate your gait, tell the person what's going on, etc. And ease into it.

GottaBurnEmAll

I'm a natural midfoot striker and I got it into my head that I wanted to be a forefoot striker because I thought it was supposed to be better.

It totally messed up my stride and my hips were a mess for months. I stopped worrying about it and went back to what was comfortable and natural for me and the pain disappeared.

heybales

I went from not-too-bad heel striker to midfoot lander using regular (higher heel lift with padding) shoes many years ago before it really started coming out as a method. When you look at fast paced runners - it happens naturally anyway.
Suggested to me to help shin-splints - it did.

Since then I went to barefoot then VFF on treadmill (winter so no biking) after a long year allowing a plantar fasciitis injury to fully heal (from many many years not allowing it fully).
Went to Merrill trail-gloves when VFF caused blisters.

Got the whole foot structure so strong, overdid it with plantar sprain on other foot eventually.
Went to minimalst style (4mm max heel height over forefoot) shoes after that, and discovered one leg was shorter and needed a full-length lift so that's been it since then.
Use Merrill on trails though sometimes.

I still wear the orthotics that finally allowed plantar repair in any non-flexible shoes - dress, backpacking, cycling.

For me starting bare foot (socked on gym treadmill actually) automatically slowed me down, and cut the duration way down, until I built back up. Obviously too fast there at end or I wouldn't have caused the plantar sprain.

I do recommend the style of running mid-foot, even if not using minimalist shoes.

True fore-foot running, like not allowing the heel to come back down - huh, I don't think I'd like to attempt.

I feel it helped me be injury free. Mine are from other stupid stuff now!

janejellyroll

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I'm a natural midfoot striker and I got it into my head that I wanted to be a forefoot striker because I thought it was supposed to be better.

It totally messed up my stride and my hips were a mess for months. I stopped worrying about it and went back to what was comfortable and natural for me and the pain disappeared.

Yeah, after a period where I was constantly thinking about my breathing and my footstrike and etc etc etc, I have finally decided that the way that I run when I'm not overthinking it *is* the most comfortable and injury-avoidant for me. And with a few injury-free years under my belt, I'm not inclined to change anything at the moment.

The_Enginerd

The long term studies I've seen showed no difference in injuries with the different foot strikes. I avoid overstriding and stay with what is comfortable.

stealthq

Agree with the others that for some it will be fine, for others not so much.

For me, I would not deliberately change my foot strike. If you're overstriding, I'd focus on quicker, shorter strides and let foot strike take care of itself.

As far as minimalist shoes go, I mostly like them. My case is a bit different than many in that I have to run in zero drop shoes (< 3mm) or I develop jumper's knee. So I didn't have to get used to a change in heel stack, but I did have to get used to having no or almost no cushioning.

I'm good for 6-8 miles in my Vibrams before the callouses embedded in the ball of my foot make it feel like I'm running on rocks. So, I do my short recovery runs in them and the longer or threshold runs in well-padded shoes. When I do that, I notice that over time I overpronate less and that my feet and ankles seem to get stronger. I'm able to stand and walk on concrete all day without my feet aching like they used to, for example.

GottaBurnEmAll

I'm afraid to try Vibrams outside. I run in socks on my home treadmill and love it, and it does have me thinking of switching to minimalist shoes for outside, but I have really dicey joints in my feet that can hurt badly. I'm afraid of the pounding they'd take.

BeeerRunner

I don't think it matters as much where your foot strikes, but I have switched to 0mm drop shoes, and I LOVE them. I was wearing 8mm drop shoes when I read Born to Run, which was the book I 1st read about barefoot running and minimalist shoes being better. Anyway, when it was time to get new shoes I tried on some 4mm and 0mm. The 0mm seemed too drastic so I chose the 4mm Saucony Kinvara 7s. Once those were getting towards the end of life, I went back to get the 0mm drop shoes: Altra Torin 2.5s. The 1st run...meh. wasn't so sure I was loving them. Ran in them again 2 days later...better. the 3rd run...I found my new love! I have a marathon in 3 weeks and decided to run in the Torins. (Had a great 20 mile run in them yesterday!!) I have a wide toe box so the Altras with their foot shaped design work perfect for me. Now I have 2 more pairs of Altras on my shopping list.

These are cushioned shoes. Not cushioned to the extent of Hokas definitely not bare bones like VFFs. Baby steps...

heybales

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I'm afraid to try Vibrams outside. I run in socks on my home treadmill and love it, and it does have me thinking of switching to minimalist shoes for outside, but I have really dicey joints in my feet that can hurt badly. I'm afraid of the pounding they'd take.

Merrill's have a layer of extra rubber compared to Vibrams. Not nearly the same as normal running shoe cushion, but it is noticeable compared to Vibram when on rocking rooty soil of trails.
Soft ground may not matter, neither would concrete after a bit.

The pounding probably isn't going to happen, as you'd change your landing real fast to prevent it.
Unless the treadmill just has some sort of great cushioning effect, and you just can't get out of how you think you should land the same on the ground, a couple of lands and you'll notice and shorten the stride, and absorb more with quads & calfs.

After the barefoot treadmill running - it still feels like the joints are iffy?

GottaBurnEmAll

heybales wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I'm afraid to try Vibrams outside. I run in socks on my home treadmill and love it, and it does have me thinking of switching to minimalist shoes for outside, but I have really dicey joints in my feet that can hurt badly. I'm afraid of the pounding they'd take.

Merrill's have a layer of extra rubber compared to Vibrams. Not nearly the same as normal running shoe cushion, but it is noticeable compared to Vibram when on rocking rooty soil of trails.
Soft ground may not matter, neither would concrete after a bit.

The pounding probably isn't going to happen, as you'd change your landing real fast to prevent it.
Unless the treadmill just has some sort of great cushioning effect, and you just can't get out of how you think you should land the same on the ground, a couple of lands and you'll notice and shorten the stride, and absorb more with quads & calfs.

After the barefoot treadmill running - it still feels like the joints are iffy?

Well, I have psoriatic arthritis, so there's no "feels like" - my joints just are iffy.

I might have to give those Merrill's a go, though. I hate how heavy shoes feel on my feet after doing so much barefoot running in the house, you know?

WhitneyDurham777

So this is my experience. I run a lot, but I have arthritis in one of my knees. I used to be a heel striker and what that seems to do is but the strike force into your knees. This didn't work really well so I switched initially to minimalist shoe running and trying to fore strike. This worked good initially but as my mileage increased. I started to get pains in my Achilles tendon. From my understanding now. The forces remain the same. A foot strike is a foot strike. Where the forces get absorbed change with the strike. I right now have settled on a few shoes. If I am doing super long runs often I will use a big marshmallow shoe like Hokas or Altra Paradigms. If I am looking to go fast I use an Altra One. The cushioning does seem to help me and having a low or zero drop shoe lets me play around with my foot strike pattern if something is starting to feel a bit sore.

rybo

I'm a huge fan of minimalist running shoes and using a mid-foot strike. That said, I don't think it is reasonable for everyone to be able to transition to. At least not completely.
It cannot be stated enough that the transition to this style of running has to be extremely gradual. Some people may have an easier time, but many try to transition too quickly, leading to injury.

MeanderingMammal

The_Enginerd wrote: »

The long term studies I've seen showed no difference in injuries with the different foot strikes. I avoid overstriding and stay with what is comfortable.

Pretty much this, with the addendum that the change was in injury type; increased incidence of calf cf shin injury.

I've also seen a study that suggests that fatigue leads to most reverting to a mid or heelstrike after about 10K.

Personally speaking I much prefer a low drop, minimal cushioning shoe as it gives me better ground feel.

The_Enginerd

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

The_Enginerd wrote: »

The long term studies I've seen showed no difference in injuries with the different foot strikes. I avoid overstriding and stay with what is comfortable.

Pretty much this, with the addendum that the change was in injury type; increased incidence of calf cf shin injury.

I've also seen a study that suggests that fatigue leads to most reverting to a mid or heelstrike after about 10K.

Personally speaking I much prefer a low drop, minimal cushioning shoe as it gives me better ground feel.

True. I haven't seen any studies which have tried to determine whether these differences in the injury type rate with foot strike are due to the differences in loading, or due to the biomechanical difference which cause us to favor a certain running form. It's probably a combination of both.

BrianSharpe

I'm a big fan of the "If it ain't broke....." school of thought. If you've been running injury free for a number of years it sounds like you're doing something right (having said that...the best thing i did for myself was running outside all year 'round. Winter running forced me to shorten my stride and since returning to a shoe with a 12mm drop I've been injury free) and you need to ask yourself why Vibram settled a class action lawsuit over their claimed benefits.....

DevilsFan1

My wife's podiatrist told her that barefoot/forefoot running guaranteed him a lot of business. Take that for what you will.

GiddyupTim

Personally, I would not listen to the podiatrist. Doctors see people who are injured. People get injured, sometimes when they are doing everything right. Doctors don't see all the people who have no problem and who, in this case, may be mid-foot strikers.
As regards trying to alter your foot strike. I believe studies have shown that people can't really change their style very easily, and the researchers concluded that it wasn't really worth it to try. Everybody has their own foot strike. Do they faster, more graceful runners strike more towards the front of their foot? Yes. Most. Does that mean you need to change just because you jog a bit differently? Not necessarily.
How about if you just tried Chi running? I think that Chi running's emphasis on a slight forward lean naturally moves you toward a more forefoot or midfoot strike.

GiddyupTim

Here's a news release on research that suggests that if you want to run forefoot then getting minimalist shoes will help -- in case you are interested.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161121170235.htm