Where is the Medical Community Heading Regarding Barefoot and Minimalism?

I’ve had a few very interesting conversations with members of the medical community as of late. It seems there’s a growing movement, initiated by younger researchers and practitioners, to thoroughly investigate the ideas of barefoot and minimalism.

This isn’t a group of renegade hippy doctors rejecting the ‘Man; it’s a group of professionals that are questioning the assumptions about topics like running gait and the need for medical interventions. There seems to be a growing rift between Read More...

The BRUcrew Tribe: Fitness for Those That March to ther Beat of a Different Drum

Over the last few years, I’ve had a dream of starting a fitness group that was loosely based on the idea of an ultramarathon training group, but incorporated other elements like weight training, speed work, hill repeats, running form coaching, and ultra-specific situational training. I wanted the group to be based on outdoor fitness (because being inside sucks). I wanted the location, dates, and times to be flexible. I wanted the group to be populated by hard working Read More...

Sore Calves? Achilles Problems? Stress Fractures? Plantar Fasciitis? Get Off Your Damn Toes!

Over the last few days, I’ve been answering questions on Reddit. I’ve noticed a disturbing trend. The number of people that complain about the following injuries is increasing dramatically.

Chronically sore calves
Calf cramps
Achilles tendonitis
Metatarsal stress fractures
Bone spurs around the heel
Plantar fasciitis

The weird thing- this is occurring in people that aren’t necessarily making a transition to barefoot or minimalist shoe running.

There’s a growing recognition that there are benefits of changing running form to eliminate excessive overstriding. Read More...

Natural Running is Natural Running Regardless of the Flavor

Rocky road and superman are both flavors of ice cream, just as ChiRunning, Pose, Evolution Running, barefoot running, etc. are flavors of “natural running.”

In my previous post, I talked about the problems with the idea that gravity can propel us forward with a “controlled fall.” The post led to a great discussion. many runners shared great comments about various aspects of the discussion.

One comment stood out, though.

David Stretanski made various comments and Read More...

Is Running a Controlled Fall? Why the Gravity Model Doesn’t Make Sense

How exactly do we run?

It’s a question worth asking for runners, coaches, and running gait theorists. Some would argue that gravity propels us forward. In fact, I used to buy into this model. It seemed to make sense- lean forward so you’ll off-balance and let gravity pull you down, which resulted in forward movement.

Then I started to read about running gait from researchers that actually study gait in labs. The gravity theory didn’t hold Read More...

Merrell Bare Access 2 Review

Merrell’s Bare Access 2 is an update to the popular Bare Access released last year. i reviewed them here:

Bare Access Review

I used that particular shoe for a good portion of the Across the Years 72 hour race and all of the Fifth Third Riverbank Run 25k. The cushioning didn’t affect my gait nearly as much as I expected. The biggest issue I had was the top of the heel counter. Read More...

Fourteen Things I’ve Learned About Barefoot Running Since Hitting the Road

Shelly and I have been on the road for about 15 months. During that time, we’ve conducted close to 50 clinics and group runs centered around barefoot running or running gait. Most of the clinics have been held at running specialty (what we call “local running stores” in the running world) or outdoor specialty stores. Some are small businesses with single stores, others have been national “big box” retailers. We’ve met people that have decades of barefoot experience Read More...