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Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes?
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Ok, so I am a new runner (started in June) and started running in Hoka Challengers because I had a good REI dividend and that's the only Hoka's they had in widths. Felt great, got into the training, built up very slowly with couch to 5k, repeating weeks as I needed it. Once I could reliably run 30-40 minutes easy, I started to make one of my runs a little longer. About a month ago my Challenger's started to show signs of wear, so I decided to replace them. Got Bondi 6's at the local running store because I figured if squishy was good, extra squishy would be better. Maybe I made a mistake by just jumping into the new shoe instead of easing into it, but my first "long run" 70 minutes, and I got some pretty bad pain on the outside of my left knee. Left the knee very sore for a day or two, and now at about the 20-30 minute mark I start to feel it, and it just gets worse. Could the switch in shoes have cause this? That's the only big thing that I've noticed as different. Training load has been the same, about the same breakdown of treadmill vs. outside runs. I've been fitted for a neutral shoe, so is there a hoka road equivalent to the challenger?

USAT Level 1 Coach
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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I run in Hoka 6s. Super squishy, yes!

I actually ran minimalist and even barefoot for 2 years prior to that (and ran in 'regular' shoes of all types for 15 years before that.)

I've posted about this before, but I'm convinced from those extremes in experience that the less padding of the shoe, the more the load is transferred to the achilles/ankle (lower part of the leg), whereas the more padding and drop you have (like Hoka Bondi6), the more the load is transferred to your hip and knees.

It was really, really noticeable with the barefoot vs Hoka - with barefoot, after my Achilles got acclimated, my quads rarely got sore in running, even on extreme hills.

Studies also show that cushiony shoes can't eliminate the load - they can flatten out the impact profile but the load still gets transferred.

In summary, while there's no hard scientific evidence, my n=1 suggests that the more issues you have with the hip/knee, the more careful you might want to be about super cushy shoes.

(My ankles are shot, with MRI confirmed osteoarthritis, whereas my knees & hips are pristine, so the maxi shoes work well for me.)
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [lightheir] [ In reply to ]
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I was surprised because I was going from one Hoka shoe to another. I think it would have been way more apparent if I was going from a minimalist to a pair of Hokas, but I wonder if the Challengers were a little more solid underfoot and the Bondi's are just a little too far into the super soft side of things. It's frustrating because I was just getting to the point where I felt like I could get a good aerobic workout from the running as my joints and stuff caught up to my aerobic systems, and now I'm back to 20 minute easy as can be jogs to keep the knee from hurting.

USAT Level 1 Coach
Team Next Level
http://goteamnltri.com/
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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I briefly had IT band problems 10 years ago as I switched from a "stability" shoe to a "neutral" shoe that was more cushioned on the medial side. Now I run in very cushy shoes (Hokas and fancy-foam Nikes) without any problem. I think the problem was that the inside of my foot was collapsing into the foam and torquing the knee to the inside, resulting in the IT strain. That makes sense as a mechanism for squish leading to IT trouble. I've since strengthened all of those ankle/knee/hip structures and the squish doesn't give me problems, and in fact it really seems to reduce the wear and tear on my joints.


<The Dew Abides>
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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Switching shoes may hide the symptoms temporarily, but wont necessarily solve the actual problem. You can get IT band problems with any shoe when you start to increase mileage. More than likely there is a strength and technique imbalance, where you need to do glute and external rotation strength exercises for your hip, and less stretching and rolling on your IT. Also, start work on your running drills/form and keep the strength exercises up as tolerated.

Best of luck.

Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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It could be one or all of many things:

1. Jumping into a 70 minute run
2. Going to softer shoes
3. Going to higher stack shoes
4. Over striding because you felt the cushion would be there
5. The muscle imbalance already discussed

Ditch the shoes and go back to the challenger. Start running all over again. If 20 minutes of running causes pain, run 15 minutes. Do that for as long as it takes for you to build some running into your legs. Once you feel confident, then add 10% to your running each week and not more. If you did two runs of 15 minutes last week you do two runs that equal 33 minutes. Give yourself time. Don’t rush to distance or pace, let your body build running strength.

You definitely fell into the classic running trap. If cushion is good, more cushion must be better. It doesn’t work that way. Think of it this way. Your body is perfectly designed to absorb the impact from running. The running shoe is there to basically help where your body can’t do it. If you over correct for a perceived need and go to more stack height and a much softer ride your body will have to adjust. Yes you should not have run 70 minutes in that shoe at the start. Now just go back to the start and work very slowly on running fitness.

Dave Jewell
Free Run Speed

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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [SDJ] [ In reply to ]
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SDJ wrote:
It could be one or all of many things:

1. Jumping into a 70 minute run
2. Going to softer shoes
3. Going to higher stack shoes
4. Over striding because you felt the cushion would be there
5. The muscle imbalance already discussed

Ditch the shoes and go back to the challenger. Start running all over again. If 20 minutes of running causes pain, run 15 minutes. Do that for as long as it takes for you to build some running into your legs. Once you feel confident, then add 10% to your running each week and not more. If you did two runs of 15 minutes last week you do two runs that equal 33 minutes. Give yourself time. Don’t rush to distance or pace, let your body build running strength.

You definitely fell into the classic running trap. If cushion is good, more cushion must be better. It doesn’t work that way. Think of it this way. Your body is perfectly designed to absorb the impact from running. The running shoe is there to basically help where your body can’t do it. If you over correct for a perceived need and go to more stack height and a much softer ride your body will have to adjust. Yes you should not have run 70 minutes in that shoe at the start. Now just go back to the start and work very slowly on running fitness.

As mentioned above, it could be any number of things. I got really bad ITB inflammation on an easy 10mi. run with a friend because it was much slower than I typically run, so I probably changed my stride.

With ITBS, if the band is inflamed it is more likely to rub, which makes it more inflamed (vicious cycle, kinda like when you bite your lip and it swells). The hardest lesson I had to learn was to lay off of an inflamed ITB (no running for 3weeks, but could bike/swim) to let it heal. I kept trying to run after a week or two and would just reinflame it and set the recovery clock back to zero.

ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [ironmatt85] [ In reply to ]
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ironmatt85 wrote:
Switching shoes may hide the symptoms temporarily, but wont necessarily solve the actual problem. You can get IT band problems with any shoe when you start to increase mileage. More than likely there is a strength and technique imbalance, where you need to do glute and external rotation strength exercises for your hip, and less stretching and rolling on your IT. Also, start work on your running drills/form and keep the strength exercises up as tolerated.

Best of luck.

This. I was having issues, talked to a PT friend of mine, started doing some strength work on my glutes and legs, problem solved.
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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Maybe it is time to work on your glutes and other over looked muscles. Your IT band probably hurts because it is trying to stabilize your leg(s).
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Re: Anyone ever get IT band flareup with squishy shoes? [gregkeller] [ In reply to ]
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I went though a nasty IT band issue in 2019 lasting from end of March to start of August. Usually never one thing on the 'why i'm injured' list, but I think the majority of the pie chart was unstable footwear & conditions. IE Yak Tracks on snowy paths & Nike 4% shoes. The shoes didn't work for me. On the road to getting healthy, I spent a lot of time in PT, got orthodics, & ran in stable shoes ==> Clifton, DS Trainers, & Tri Noosas (RIP; Great shoe).

Also, I got this & things kind of cleared up around the same time (not the solution, but helped). https://www.amazon.com/...n-Wrap/dp/B005B00J5K
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