Natural Running Center

The following report by Steve Nearman appeared in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Athletic Association, and is reproduced here with the AMAA‘s permission. Daniel Lieberman, PhD, known in the running community as the “Barefoot Running Professor” has his favorite motto when ad- dressing his favorite topic. “If you think barefoot [Read more...]

With all his books, coaching experience, training methods, racing achievements, and Ironman-like durability with just over a half-century of miles on his legs, Jeff Galloway is a respected fixture in the running community. And along with many other runners, I’m a subscriber to his email newsletter .But his take on minimalist running shoes in his [Read more...]

by Dr. Phil Maffetone. In 1994, seven CEOs from the nation’s largest tobacco companies declared under oath before a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill that “nicotine is not addictive.” Their testimony was a brazenly defiant refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of several decades of research that proved cigarettes and nicotine were health hazards. Now imagine [Read more...]

“Ask the Expert” is regular feature of the Natural Running Center. If you have any running-related questions — shoes, diet, gait, injury, transitioning– let us know, and we will do our best to have an expert from our NRC Advisory Board answer them. Kick-off question: Should heavier runners use thickly cushioned shoes to lessen the [Read more...]

If someone asks you, “please define minimalism,” then Zero Drop highly recommends that you point them in this direction of this two-minute video by Spencer White, who is the director of the Biomechanics Lab at Saucony. He expertly explains minimalist footwear and some of the things you should think about before taking the less-is-more leap. [Read more...]

One might ask, and with good reason, why would a footwear company promote “barefoot running?” Isn’t it in the business of selling running and walking shoes? But Merrell has taken a progressive approach with both footwear and form, a marriage made widely evident with its new Barefoot Running line. Exaggerated heel-striking,slow leg turnover, and over-striding [Read more...]

Danny Abshire is the author of “Natural Running” (VeloPress, 2010) and the co-founder of Newton Running, a Boulder, Colorado-based company that makes shoes that promote an efficient midfoot/forefoot running gait. He has been making advanced footwear solutions for runners and triathletes for more than 20 years. The following article by Danny will help you safely [Read more...]

Along with the introduction of its new Minimus footwear line, New Balance has partnered with Playmakers running and apparel store in southern Michigan that created “Good Form Running“. This simple, easy-to follow program will help more people make running a less-painful, more enjoyable, part of their lives. In the video below this chart, Good Form [Read more...]

Give credit where credit is due. Newcomer to the running shoe sector, Altra Running, coined the term “zero drop,” which describes the ideal barefoot-running style shoe. There is no height difference between heel and toebox area. Your foot can function like nature intended, and that means landing properly on the midfoot or forefoot, and making [Read more...]

You were born with perfect feet. So what happened along the way? The human foot is designed such that the toes are spread and extended. This allows for optimal balance and stride. In societies where mainly flip-flops or sandals are used, foot integrity is maintained through life and foot problems are avoided. In industrialized societies however, the foot’s [Read more...]