Barefoot Running: Good Idea or Bad? San Francisco Podiatrist explains to other doctors.
Seattle, WA – Thursday, June 27, 2013.
At the International Foot & Ankle Foundation meeting, Dr. Christopher Segler, of Doc On The Run San Francisco had the opportunity to share his experience with elite endurance runners and triathletes. The focus of the talk was the trend in barefoot running, natural running and minimalist running shoes.
During the session, Dr. Segler explained that “The key for sports medicine podiatrists it to understand that many of your patients are running in minimalist running shoes. Some in fact may be unaware that they are doing so.” He continued, “some runners are in fact pursuing alterations in their running form through barefoot drills and other delivberate attempts to restructure their running form. The hope in these attempts is that increased efficiency will translate to running with a lower heart rate or possibly an increase in speed. But many athletes have no idea that they are even running in minimalist shoes.”
Dr. Segler went on to explain to the differences in minimalist and conventional running shoes. The biomechanical implications of minimalist shoes technology were discussed in an effort to help other podiatrists consider the injuries that they might encounter in their sports medicine practices.
“It really doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree with the practice of barefoot running. It is our responsibility as foot and ankle experts to understand the trends and help guide our patients on the fastest course of recovery from injury. It is our duty not to ask runners to stop running, but instead to help runners continue running, without pain.”
The International Foot & Ankle Foundation has generously published a PDF of Dr. Segler’s lecture so that attendees may review the concepts at their leisure.
Dr. Christopher Segler is a running injury expert, marathon runner and 11-time Ironman triathlon finisher. He is frequently honored to be invited to speak at prestigious medical conferences on the topic of running injuries and running biomechanics. His podiatry sports medicine practice his based in San Francisco, CA but he is licensed in multiple states. He provides remote consultations for elite athletes, marathon runners and triathletes all over the globe. If you are a minimalist runner with a barefoot running injury question, or a physician with a biomechanics question, you can call him directly at 415-308-0833.