It seems that all of these methods recommend a mid/fore foot strike. So how are they different? How do I decide which method is best for me? I am brand new to running and want to build a solid foundation while staying injury free. I bought the Evolution Running Book and DVD but other posts seem to take issue with this method (note: I have only skimmed the book and haven’t received the DVD yet). I’m not married to going with this method either. What are the pros and cons of each? Since I am new to running I won’t have to endure as much pain transitioning to a new style (hopefully) that others seem to experience.
Also, what is the deal with Newtons? They seem to be a shoe created specifically for the foot strike location recommended by these methods. Yet Newton’s aren’t a recommended shoe on the Pose site. Are these good shoes for training? The price tag is a bit hefty but my feet are important.
I started running 18 years ago (wowzers). I just run. No gimmicks, no “special” shoes. Just run. If you do too much too soon you’ll get injured.
Just run.
I’ve always found that the runners with the best form are trail runners. Running on trails naturally gives you pretty close to proper form because of the nature of running on uneven surfaces. The brain is constantly searching for good footing so without even thinking about form, you find it.
For me personally, I find that it shortens the stride (so I don’t overstride), helps me land lighter on my heel/midfoot, and helps me keep a higher knee lift all because of the uneven surfaces.
I’m not familiar at all with Evolution. As far as I can tell, POSE and Chi Running both advocate a similar running form - emphasis on high cadence, raising recovering foot, forward lean, good posture, and engagement of core muscles. They both seem to be a good way to get novice runners to abandon that horrible, jarring shuffle that you see everywhere (amongst fitness joggers, that is). I think that there is a certain element of convergent evolution here, too - a form similar to POSE or Chi Running is more or less the what competitive runners seem to use, regardless of how they might have learned it.
Best purpose for either of these training methods is to get the novice out of bad habits that inhibit performance and can cause injury.
As for Newtons, I tried them last year. They are really well-made, with a very comfortable upper. Nevertheless, I found that they caused me a great deal of pain in the knuckles of my toes, to the extent that I had to take some time off running. (I’ve been planning to post them on the classifieds here, but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Anybody interested in a pair of size 9 with about 40 miles on them?) They seem to work for some people, though, and I must have seen at least five or six people wearing them at my last race.
As an aside, I really wish that Slowtwitch would publish more training articles like these, or at least would make the archive easier to find. The training articles were what really got me onto this site (and lurking around the forum) in the first place.
While I am far from a fast runner, I will say that changing from being a heel striker to a mid-to-forefoot striker has really turned around my running (ie, from sucking badly to only sucking). For example, I ran the fastest 5 miles of my life at age 42 this spring. And I don’t think you really have to get nutty with stuff like Pose or Chi…just try and land your foot underneath your body instead of out front. Wa-la, you are automatically landing on your mid-foot as opposed to your heel. The Newtons help in that they really reward landing correctly underneath your body. I swear I am about 10 seconds per mile faster in my Newtons. Once you get used to running like that, like the other posters say, just run lots.
While I am far from a fast runner, I will say that changing from being a heel striker to a mid-to-forefoot striker has really turned around my running (ie, from sucking badly to only sucking). For example, I ran the fastest 5 miles of my life at age 42 this spring. And I don’t think you really have to get nutty with stuff like Pose or Chi…just try and land your foot underneath your body instead of out front. Wa-la, you are automatically landing on your mid-foot as opposed to your heel. The Newtons help in that they really reward landing correctly underneath your body. I swear I am about 10 seconds per mile faster in my Newtons. Once you get used to running like that, like the other posters say, just run lots.
Spot
I would ditto this from my understanding and experience.
To OP
Place foot under the body instead of out in front will prompt most of the other good mechanics. It will eliminate heel strike, shorten stride, increase cadence and raise your foot coming as it comes through. Check out your cadence from time to time. It should be up to about the 90 steps per minute range. Also keep your torso and upper body as straight as possible, i.e. don’t slouch. That’s the first thing that goes when you get fatigued. work on trying to keep your hips and shoulders as high as possible.
Get the mindset that your feet should be going up and down as opposed to forward and back, but your body itself should only move up and down minimally.
If you’re just getting into running then my advice is to spend a lot of time running at a ridiculously slow pace. It’s more fun, you can run for longer and ultimately you will build up the physical and mental resistance required. You will find that a lot speed comes naturally after that, but at some point you need to move on to include some speed work.
I can’t speak for the newtons, but the design seems clearly to reward runners with the correct technique. It looks to me like they would even do more harm that good to your run split if you ran with a heel strike
Chi, Evolution, and POSE are all similar (although hardcore fans of each will argue). Pose is most agressive in arguing a forefoot strike and forward body position. I believe they even coin the phrase “controled falling”. All three methods are more efficient (notice I did not say better) than heel striking. Now, I am obviously biased by the way in which I make my living. However, as another poster stated, Newton shoes do reward you for a mid-foot/forfoot strike. The active membrabe technology reduces impact from an average of 20Gs with the avereage foam midsole, to 12Gs. That is a 40% reduction in shock, add that up over 28,000 or so strides for a marathon and you have a lot less wear and tear on the body. In my opinion, this is why fans of our shoes are able to set rather nice PRs. To the poster with the size 9’s and the sore metatarsels, PM me, I may be able to help you out. Thanks to those that are fans of our technology. We do appreciate every customer.
Might want to recheck that- even research has proven Pose isn’t more efficient.
“The global change in running mechanics associated with 12 weeks of instruction in the pose method resulted in a decrease in stride length, a reduced vertical oscillation in comparison with the control group and a decrease of running economy in triathletes.” (**Effect of a global alteration of running technique on kinematics and **economy. GEORGE M. DALLAM, RANDALL L. WILBER, KRISTEN JADELIS, GRAHAM FLETCHER, & NICHOLAS ROMANOV. Journal of Sports Sciences, July 2005; 23(7): 757 – 764)
You DO realize that a shortened stride and REDUCED vertical oscilations ARE more efficient???
Aw hell…here we go, another expert trying to let the facts get into the way. Why dont you take your exercise physiology and proven form to another forum
Oh, nice to see someone from Newtons posting…reminds me, I need to start running in mine again…
You DO realize that a shortened stride and REDUCED vertical oscilations ARE more efficient???
He is right: Reduce the stride and vertical oscillations to 0, you will be 100% more efficient, but not going anywhere…
You do realize that you should read the entire study before you say something like that?
In the study, the end result was a decrease in efficiency, due to the being less economical as a result of increased O2 uptake for a given speed.
The triathletes used in the study were also solid MOP triathletes, who could run a 10k in 42min or less.
Practical application is that if after sufficient adaptation (lets say 12 weeks…) you negatively impact VO2, threshold speed, or running economy, then the technique should probably be discarded for something better, such as WYSIWYG for footfall and point of impact, and being sensible about the recovery and periodization.
If you are new to running my advice is to find some shoes that are comfortable and slowly build up to where you can run 30 minutes or so every day without any nagging injuries or pain. Would not worry about speed or form until you can do that. There are very fast runners who heel strike and have no injuries and mid foot strikers that are very slow and have all kinds of injuries. My unscientific opinion is that running injuries are always caused by people doing too much too soon. Ease into it but do it at least 5 days a week. The rest will kinda sort itself out. Best way for me to tell if my form is good is when running on snow and ice. Makes it really easy to tell if you are landing under your center of gravity.
BTW I like my newtons and feel fast in them. Decided not to buy another pair as the Asics Speedstars are literally half the money and I like them also. Whats most offensive about the Newtons is that they charge shipping on top of the $175. Also, I do not want to get too attached to them only to have the company cease to exist in a year or two. Based on nothing but conjecture I think that if newton is going to survive long term they need to come in at the 135-150 price point and be widely available through places like road runner.
OK… I am not getting into a pissing contest here. First, obviously there are limits to the stride length thing, obviously you don’t want a 12 inch stride. I will admit I did not research the details of the study you quote. I can quote (and link) studies that extoll the merits of midfoot/forefoot strike all the way to the marathon distance. I personally enjoyed a HUGE improvement in my racing when I learned to run “taller” and “stop sitting in the bucket” as my college coach used to say all the way back in 1989 (long before Pose/Chi/evolution came to common knowledge). I am not on the forum to sell Newton shoes per say, I only wanted to add my .02 on the Pose/Chi thing and answer the OPs question on the shoes. As far as my not having any exercise phys. background or running experience (or at least enough for the grand poo-bahs of the ST forums), I will just leave it at saying I do have a background in both. I will leave that alone. Those that believe heel striking is plenty efficient, good for you. Those that prefer forefoot/midfoot, good for you as well. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Good luck to everyone the rest of the season.
Do not think that you meant to respond to me as I generally agree with you. Don’t let a forum disagreement or the opinions of some posters get under your skin, they may or not be based on anything but preconceived notions anyhow. There is no shortage of posters that are extremely negative about something they have never used and or know little about.
I think it is great that someone from Newton is willing to post and think that you have a good product. Nothing wrong with trying to advocate on behalf of Newtons round here anyhow, self promotion has been know to happen from time to time on the forum
Chris, definitely wasn’t replying to you directly but to the forum as a whole. Like I did post, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I just wanted to add my opinions based on my research and my own running career. I also don’t want to get near the line of self-promotion as I believe we should pay Dan if we want to advertise. For those here in the forum that have specific questions or comments/concerns related to Newton Running, please go to our website. We will answer each and every inquiry. Thanks again, I am now logging out so I can do some work.
Not trying to get into a pissing contest, and I’m not saying that midfoot/forefoot strikes don’t have merit. Sounds like you have a sound background, and obviously along the way some good coaching advice.
In defense of mid/front footstrike, research has proven that the fastest runners will always be mid to front footstrike at race pace.
But this also has to do with the natural person, and everything is linked from top to bottom in the kinetic chain. Mess with one aspect, and you change “x” more. Thus the increased eccentric load on the calf, with the reduced eccentric load on the knee, such as with Pose running.
Good luck with your product. Every new piece of equipment that comes onto the market does good for R&D, the industry, and future advances. Hopefully it will be proven by research in the future…just make sure you run the study better than the folks over at Posetech.
Robert - a little bit off-topic, but just wanted to say publically - thanks for the quick response by PM. You guys deserve your reputation for customer service.
