Firstly, a very Happy New Year to you all!
In the spirit of this new beginning I am going to be bold.
I am not aware of any controlled clinical trials that have tested the efficacy and safety of heel strike running shoes (ie elevated cushioned heel and motion control systems). That is to say, there is no evidence that these running shoes either decrease injury rates or improve performance.
If this is the case, what are you paying for? If you examine the product descriptions for these shoes, manufacturers such as ASICS and Nike make no claim that their products will do anything other than provide a particular running experience.
Given the cost of shoe manufacture in China these days, anyone paying more than $50 for a pair of running shoes should be expecting much more than just a pleasant "ride".
Am I being unfair? Lets put it out there-
Is any running shoe company prepared to claim that wearing their distance running shoes will decrease your risk of suffering musculoskeletal running injuries?
Is any shoe manufacturer prepared to claim that wearing their running shoes will improve your distance running performance?
If you are prepared to make these claims, where is your peer reviewed data to back it up?
Stay tuned...I have my legal team standing by!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Nike, ASICS, Adidas...No more rhetoric, where's your proof?
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4 comments:
Hi Craig,
I agree that relatively 'high heeled' running shoes with their thick 'cushioning' soles, along with 'motion control' gimmicks (to have a notable affect on reducing excess out phase pronation) which in most cases just add further weight,stiffness & bulk to the shoe have not reduced injury rates of today’s runners compared to 30 to 40 years ago. I also believe that these types of shoes are counter productive for developing ones OWN biomechanically efficient style, which in itself can produce an array of other problems i.e. various types of injuries & quite possibly compromised performances (more research needed). As you have mentioned, these type of running shoe structures does in most cases encourage the runner to heel strike thus I feel exacerbating the involvement of the Sub Talar Joint which then predisposes the runner to increase biomechanical faults thus increase chance of overuse type injuries.
To be fair however I have not seen or heard running shoe companies claim that wearing their shoes will improve "distance running performance" as such. Maybe I have turned a blind eye to this type of claim as I know it would be just a silly marketing tactic. We should all know that only consistent well structured training can improve running performance. However they are guilty of claiming injury reduction via the addition of specific elements i.e. dual density EVA, motion control bars etc.
I must say I was never a Nike fan in the late 80's & throughout the 90's. However they have taken a step in the right direction of late with their 'FREE' range - although disappointed that they cut the 4.0.
As a Podiatrist & runner running around 160km a week in either the FREE 4.0 or Vibram Fivefinger I encourage the direction you are heading.
Regards,
Matt Thomas.
Crikey Matt, I think you know more about this than me!
I haven't seen any direct claims of either increased performance or reduced injury risk, which is exactly my point.
If there is no claimed benefit to these shoes, then why are they being prescribed/purchased in such large quantities?
I would argue that consumers and footwear prescribers believe that they do in fact have these benefits. The question is, where have these false assumptions come from and why do they refuse to go away?
Nice blog.! But I am not totally agree with you, I am wearing adidas running shoes from last five years and I have never any problem with them.
Absolutely and there are plenty of runners who would say the same. However this does not demonstrate that the shoes you are using are providing any benefit. Rather this demonstrates that these shoes have not reduced your injury threshold to the point where you have suffered an overt injury.
It also makes no comment on their effect on your performance or your risk of developing osteoarthritis later in life.
Many runners have an injury threshhold different to your own and do suffer recurrent injuries whilst wearing these shoes.
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