Tread Lightly: Form, Footwear, and the Quest for Injury-Free Running
Bill Katovsky, Peter Larson
Language: English
Pages: 288
ISBN: 1616083743
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Praise for the work of Peter Larson
"Larson presents a wealth of balanced info on the raging debate over proper running form and minimalist running shoes." —Erin Beresini, Outside Online
“Peter Larson is both a scientist and a realist when it comes to running shoes, and that's a good combination.” —Amby Burfoot, Peak Performance Blog, Runner's World
Humans evolved over the millennia to become one of the most exceptional distance-running species on Earth. So why are injuries so common? Are our shoes to blame, or is it a question of running form, training, or poor diet? In this groundbreaking book, Peter Larson and Bill Katovsky explore the reasons why runners experience injuries and offer potential solutions to the current epidemic of running-related injuries. Their findings, gleaned from research studies and conversations with leading footwear scientists, biomechanical experts, coaches, podiatrists, physical therapists, and competitive runners, are informative and enlightening. Topics include:
- How modern runners differ from their ancestors
- Why repetitive stress causes most injuries, and how runners can safely reduce their occurrence
- The pros and cons of barefoot running
- Why it’s time to move beyond the pronation-control paradigm with running shoes
- How certain running-form flaws might increase injury risk
- How footwear has evolved over the past 10,000 years
- The recreational runner
- Why running shoes are not inherently evil
Tread Lightly is a highly readable, multifaceted investigation of running—past and present, with a hopeful look to the future.
helpful. If you are particularly concerned that an overstriding gait is causing you trouble, attempting a wholesale transition to a more barefoot-style form in your everyday running footwear may be well-worth considering. If you decide to make an attempt at fine-tuning your gait, it’s important to remember that tinkering with a form element like stride length involves some amount of risk—you don’t want to create a new injury, and it’s better to do nothing than to do harm. John Jerome, in his
footwear stability on pain outcomes in women runners: a randomised control trial. British Journal of Sports Medicine 45(9):715–721. Knapik JJ, Swedler DI, Grier TL, Hauret KG, Bullock SH, Williams KW, Darakjy SS, Lester ME, Tobler SK, Jones BH. 2009. Injury reduction effectiveness of selecting running shoes based on plantar shape. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23:685–697. Knapik JJ, Trone DW, Swedler DI, Villasenor A, Bullock SH, Schmied E, Bockelman T, Han P, Jones BH. 2010.
long-distance running. It presents a rather strange predicament or riddle—humans evolved to run, but they just can’t seem to go for a long time or with any consistency without getting hurt. The running human has become the injured human, and the search for the reason is complex, vexing, and seemingly never-ending. CHAPTER 2 Running Injuries: Why They Happen Train, don’t strain.—ARTHUR LYDIARD Pain. Virtually every runner has experienced it at some point and in some form. You might be
ultramarathon that is held in the Colorado Rockies. Most of the course’s elevation is over 10,000 feet. None of the Indians finished the 100-mile race, but the reason was not because they were under-trained. “The problem, it turned out, was an unfamiliarity with the trail and the strange ways of the North,” reported Don Kardong of Runner’s World. “The Indians stood shyly at aid stations, waiting to be offered food. They held their flashlights pointed skyward, unaware that these ‘torches’ needed
flattening from sitting to standing is a commonly used method for determining footwear or insole needs—this gives a more direct measure of foot mobility than simply looking at arch height. If the arch flattens too much, you need to prop it up with a supportive insole, right? Sounds reasonable, and the rate at which stores sell inserts is sufficient proof that most runners buy into this logic. However, it would be of interest to know whether looking at arch collapse while standing tells us much of