How is your base?

We all need a strong foundation/base, if not, the house crumbles and falls in the end.

When we want any other part of the body stronger, we train it, when we have a problem with a weak knee, we train the muscles surrounding it to help keep the knee in “shape” or to get it in better “shape”.

When our feet or ankles are weak we put them in a running shoe that supports the valve of the foot and prohibits pronation/suppination… Isn’t it strange that we strengthen every other part of the body by training it to improve it and at the same time we make the feet/ankles weaker by supporting them with external support? A broken arm will loose 40-60% of it’s strength in about 2 weeks, what will happen to the muscles in your feet when you constantly support them with a “cast” that stops the usage of the muscles… they’ll become weaker and you go to get another pair of orthodics to support your feet some more… and the downward spiral begins (of course there is exceptions to this, like malformed feet and so on, I talk about the the “normal foot”)

Running shoes is like a boxing glove, the boxing glove takes away the pain in your face but the vibrations still hit the brain… your running shoe does just that, it takes away the pain in your heel but the vibrations of the impact (=your body weight x 4-5 times -  some even say 6-10 times) still affect your ankles, knees, spine and the tissues surrounding them.

We’re not made to run on the heel, just take a look at how your foot is built, there is no cushioning under the heel, on the other hand your ankle, calf, knee, thigh, hamstring is a spring made to support your weight while running.

To test this, just go run barefoot on a hard surface and see what happens, yes barefoot (or in a pair of flat soled shoes if it’s cold outside)… that’s how we’re made, that’s how the body is naturally constructed to run, that’s what nature gave us. After running barefoot for a while you’ll feel a lot more explosive in your movements if you’re into sports. Remove all the artificial support and your body will start using all the muscles the way they are supposed to be used. A lot of people with running related issues has been freed of those issues when starting to run barefoot.

Make your base stronger and the rest of your structure will stand stronger.

A great book on this subject is Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

Here’s a great video on the subject, enjoy…