Runners spend $20 billion annually on running shoes, with many lacing up pairs that can cost as much as $200. But is all this fancy footwear really a good investment? A new musculoskeletal study finds that running with running shoes exerts significantly more stress on key joints than running barefoot, potentially increasing a runner's risk of developing disabilities such as osteoarthritis in the knees.
The key culprit is contemporary running-shoe design, which interferes with the body's natural ability to absorb forces through the foot, says lead author Casey Kerrigan, who published the study in the journal PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation. Most troubling is the finding that running with running shoes leads to a 38% increase in pressure to a part of the knee -- the medial tibiofemoral compartment -- particularly prone to joint degeneration.
Do Running Shoes Make Us Run the Risk of Injury? - DailyFinance
The key culprit is contemporary running-shoe design, which interferes with the body's natural ability to absorb forces through the foot, says lead author Casey Kerrigan, who published the study in the journal PM&R: The Journal of Injury, Function and Rehabilitation. Most troubling is the finding that running with running shoes leads to a 38% increase in pressure to a part of the knee -- the medial tibiofemoral compartment -- particularly prone to joint degeneration.
Do Running Shoes Make Us Run the Risk of Injury? - DailyFinance
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