Image via CrunchBaseReporter Gina Kolata published an excellent article today in the New York Times that discusses Nike Air Max 270 Donne what we do and do not know about how custom orthotics work. She interviewed renowned running biomechanists Benno Nigg (University of Calgary) and Joesph Hamill (University of Massachusetts),Nike Air Max Classic BW Dam as well as several orthotic makers. Here are a few choice quotes:“His (Dr. Nigg’s) overall conclusion: Shoe inserts or orthotics may be helpful as a short-term solution, preventing injuries in some athletes. But it is not clear how to make inserts that work. The idea that they are supposed to correct mechanical-alignment problems does not hold up.“
Joseph Hamill: “I guess the main thing to note is that, as biomechanists, we really do not know how orthotics work.”
Scott www.goulvenbazire.fr D. Cummings, president of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists: “… when it comes to science and rigorous studies, he added, “comparatively, there isn’t a whole lot Adidas NMD Womens of evidence out there.”Benno Nigg: “there is no need to “correct” a flat foot. All Jason needs to do is strengthen his foot and ankle muscles and then try running without orthotics.“I was however, a bit perplexed by this statement: “Dr. Nigg says he always wondered what was wrong with having flat feet. Arches, he explains, are an evolutionary remnant, needed by primates that gripped trees with their feet. “Since we don’t do that anymore, we don’t really need an arch,” he wrote in an e-mail. “Why would we? For landing — no need. For the stance phase — no need. For the takeoff phase — no need. Thus a flat foot is not something that is bad per se.”Chimpanzees Nike Air Max 90 Womens have no arch, but humans do, so I find it a strange argument that it’s a remnant left over from our days climbing in the trees (see photo to the left – human foot top, chimp foot Adidas NMD Dames on bottom).I’m not a podiatrist, nor have I ever worn orthotics, but my basic sense from reading the article is that the biomechanists quoted feel that they can be useful for short term treatment, but using them long term is not warranted as they can, quoting Nigg again, “lead to a reduction in muscle strength.” Treat them more as a crutch rather than a permanent solution seems to be the take home message.Just before Christmas I received a very thoughtful and well researched email from ultrarunner Phil Shaw. In addition to being a very successful long distance runner, Phil is also pursuing a doctoral degree in podiatric medicine – quite a dangerous Nike Air Vapormax Mujer combination!Like me, Phil feels that the current paradigm of attempting to control foot motion through fancy shoe technology of questionable effectiveness has gone too far (for more on my Nike Air Max Classic BW thoughts about this, check out my post on the “pronation control paradigm”). He wanted to share with me some thoughts he had put together on the topic as a result of an extensive review of the scientific literature on barefoot running and forefoot striking and how they can both help reduce pronation without any need for external technological intervention. Phil’s work largely speaks for itself, and I’d like to thank him for allowing me to share it here on Runblogger. Enjoy!It Nike Air Max 90 Hombre Negro doesn’t take much time on the internet to realize that when it comes to minimalist and barefoot running, scientific evidence is spotty at best. Instead, one finds an abundance Nike Air Max 90 Damen of anecdotes and an occasional citation. In an effort to parse the strong evidence from the weak, a few fellow doctoral students and I recently wrote a literature review of barefoot running Nike Air Max 95 Mens biomechanics. Our goal was to formulate a complete and evidence-based biomechanical model of barefoot gait and describe its potential implications for overuse injuries. Ultimately, we reviewed 39 papers that met our inclusion and exclusion criteria. The publications covered many subjects relevant to barefoot running, and our review is beyond the scope of this blog (like most scientific papers, too dense as well!) but one pattern in particular may be of interest to Adidas Superstar Hommeminimalist runners. I’d like to share it with readers of Runblogger.
