Natural Running is the middle ground runners have been looking
for. By learning to run the barefoot way, while wearing shoes, runners
will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners. Backed by
studies at MIT and Harvard, running form and injury expert Danny Abshire
presents the natural running technique, form drills, and an 8-week
transition plan that will put runners on the path to faster, more
efficient, and healthier running.
In Natural Running,
Abshire explains how modern running shoes distort the efficient running
technique that humans evolved over thousands of years. He reviews the
history of running shoes and injuries, making the case for barefoot
running but also warning about its dangers. By learning the natural
running technique, runners can enjoy both worlds—comfortable feet,
knees, and legs and an efficient running form that reduces impact and
injuries.
Natural Running teaches runners to think about
injuries as symptoms of poor running form. Abshire specifies the overuse
injuries that are most commonly associated with particular body
alignment problems, foot types, and form flaws. Runners will learn how
to analyze and identify their own characteristics so they can start down
the path to natural running.
Abshire explains the natural running
technique, describing the posture, arm carriage, cadence, and
land-lever-lift foot positioning that mimic the barefoot running style.
Using Abshire's 8-week transition plan and a tool kit of strength and
form drills, runners will move from heel striking to a midfoot or
forefoot strike.
Natural Running is the newest way to run
and also the oldest. By discovering how they were meant to run, runners
will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners.
About Danny Abshire and Brian Metzler
Danny Abshire
is the cofounder of Newton Running, a Boulder, Colorado, company that
makes shoes that promote an efficient midfoot/forefoot running gait. He
has been making advanced footwear for runners and triathletes for more
than 20 years.
Brian Metzler is a senior editor at Running Times
magazine, a running coach, and a former collegiate track runner. He is
an award-winning journalist who has written about various topics in
running and conducted running shoe wear testing for magazines since the
late 1990s. He was also the founding editor of Trail Runner magazine in 1999.
