*The Route 56 Challenge: Day 20*
Running is buzzing in the news media and in fitness circles. The barefoot movement is a thing. The funny finger shoes thing comes up. The mechanics of running are under fire. Injury is forever associated with running. Orthotics have become a savior… err.. crutch. And, the topics of discussion doesn’t stop there.
Unfortunately, the fact is that more runners get hurt during the year than those that don’t. In my book, that’s a huge red flag. My perspective says that the natural things that are essential to life should come easy, work well, etc. Eating real food, running, jumping, punching, sleeping, and having sex shouldn’t be flawed, difficult, or harmful. That’s just the way it has to be– right?
School is in session.
If I’m wrong and..
1. eating plants & animals gives you cancer and
2. running hurts your knees
….then how’d we get here in the first place?
Everyday, however, I see hundreds of people from all walks of life running by on the bluff. It is a special occasion, however, when someone running by is moving well. My observation is that most runners (probably the same percentage of runners that at hurt each year on average) that I see are running terribly. The stereotypical observation is that they look broken, inflexible, and unathletic. But hey, if you can run a marathon at a 9-minute mile pace then you’re fit, right? Forget if you can touch your toes, move through a squat, or have a 5 inch max vertical leap.
I’m not here to say you need to run barefoot to run better, though I do think a little less ‘Nike Air’ and a little more biomechanics will save our running population. I’m also not here to say that you shouldn’t endurance train, though most folks have that area of fitness beat to death. I just think that running shouldn’t come with the cost of custom shoes, pain, and decreased athleticism.
It’s time that folks take ownership for their hobby. You don’t need to run on a soft surface to save you’re knees, you’ve just got to move better. Running doesn’t need to come with a bad hips, but like anything, it else takes practice. Doctors, trainers, PTs, and other subject matter experts that enforce the idea that “all that pavement running will wear on your joints” are doing a disservice, in my opinion.
Here’s to teaching humans to move better! Because running better keeps you healthy and makes you harder to kill.
Logan Gelbrich
——————
Friday’s Workout:
Find 1RM Squat Clean
Then:
AMRAP 6
10 Med Ball Cleans
10 Situps
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheet/embeddedform” query=”formkey=dHE1MmlZMXJ4UWdwa1pYdW00aTVOZlE6MQ” width=”760″ height=”1073″ /]
