This is from my weekly email newsletter but I republish it here for sharing and referencing. If you're not already a subscriber you can join below:
Happy Tuesday!
Whether you currently consider yourself a runner, were one previously, or aspire to be a runner, this is for you.
Specifically, if you're a runner who has ever suffered from foot pain, shin splints, planter fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, knee pain, or lower back pain, it might be because you've become over dependent on modern tech.
But what does foot pain have to do with modern technology?
Our story begins some two million years ago when the human brain exploded in size. Not only did these primitive humans have big brains but they stood upright on only two feet and started to develop large glutes.
In order to feed their big brains and butts, these ape-like humans needed a condensed source of calories, simply eating berries and roots wouldn't do it. They had to start hunting.
This is where the anthropological record gets a little fuzzy. Sharp edged weapons like spears, bows, and arrows weren't developed until about 200 thousand years ago. So how did our ancestors hunt during that 1.8 million year gap before weapons came on the scene?
One theory, popularized by anthropologists and researchers like Chris McDougall and Daniel Lieberman, offers an explanation that's closely linked to some of our modern foot pathologies.
Because humans are essentially hairless, fleshy, clawless, fangless, slow creatures, it begs the question, "what was our evolutionary advantage?" So yea maybe we had big brains but before tools there was no direct survival application of this brain. It's not like we could think an antelope to death.
Turns out that in addition to our brains, us early humans did have some unique advantages. We were the best runners ... for long distances.
No hair meant we could sweat and therefore cool off very efficiently. An upright posture prevented our digestive organs from colliding with our diaphragm and lungs while running. This meant that we could change the rate of our breathing independently of our stride. Big butts supplied the mechanical force needed to propel us forward and carefully evolved feet with arches and short toes made transferring that energy to the ground extremely efficient.
These unique attributes, coupled with our big brains, allowed packs of early humans, specifically the Homo Erectus, to pick off individual herd animals and exhaust them over a period of many miles. Once exhausted, the animal could be bludgeoned with clubs or stones, and eaten.
Surprisingly, from an anatomical and structural perspective, the feet of a modern human hasn't really changed that much ...
The human foot and leg has evolved over literally millions of years to walk and run. The foot alone has 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments, and 19 muscles. These muscles and ligaments, just like any other set of tissues, can be strong or weak, tight or flexible.
Prior to the 1970s all the best distance running athletes trained either using no shoes at all or very light shoes to protect against rough surfaces. The winner of the 1960 Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila, didn't wear any shoes at all.
In the 1970s, as distance running became increasingly popular in America, more and more regular people wanted to try it out. At the same time, more and more regular people started to suffer from foot and ankle related injuries.
Most amateur runners had spent their entire life walking around in normal, leather shoes. Most of these shoes tended to have an elevated heel which, over time, shortens the achilles tendon. In addition, those shoes tended to have thick soles and a small toe box which eliminated the need for toe flexion. Shoe wearing combined with lots of sitting and very little running produced a weak, inflexible foot.
The running shoes of today are largely an invention of entrepreneurs Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the founders of Nike. These new shoes added additional cushion to the heal and arch support to stabilize the foot and absorb shock. As a result, running became more accessible because it allowed the untrained runner to compete without having to strengthen their feet.
Eventually, as running shoes became more and more sophisticated, the level of foot fitness required to run became so low that the human stride actually changed. Instead of landing on the balls of our feet, we started to become heel strikers, landing first on our heel before rolling forward onto the balls of our feet.
Instead of leveraging the spring in our arches and absorbing shock with our thick calf muscles, we were absorbing shock with our shoes and our ankle, knee and hip joints. Instead of using our calf muscles to guide us through a stride, we started to rely on our shin muscles to prevent the front of the foot from slamming into the ground too hard.
Fancy orthotics only compound the problem. An orthotic is essentially a brace, for your foot. The additional support is fine as long as you have it but the net result is an even weaker foot and ankle.
All this modern foot technology had weakened our feet to the extent that foot pain, shin splints, planter fasciitis, achilles tendonitis, and knee pain became the norm. Screw evolution!
If you're a runner with foot pain then it may be the case that you're suffering as a result of the last half century of "progress" in foot tech. Your bare naked feet were built to run but they may be a little out of practice.
If you're interested in learning more about how to change or ditch your shoes to help improve your foot or ankle pain then respond here and maybe I can point you in the right direction.
Just do it!
Cheers,
Nick