If The Shoe Fits: Length

Finding a shoe that’s the perfect length may not seem like big deal...you stand on that funny metal thing (called a Bannock Device) to find your foot size and you’re good to go, or you try on a shoe and see if you have a finger nail’s width of room to the end. But those methods, while useful to an extent, don’t tell you the most important thing you need to know about how a shoe’s length interacts with your foot. The key to getting a shoe the proper length to make sure the shoe bends where your toes bend.

Ever notice how your shoes have breaks in the rubber on the bottom of the sole? The shape and spacing of the tread on your shoes isn’t just a nice design, it actually affects where the shoe will bend and flex. Your job is to make sure the bend in the shoe matches up with the joint where your toes bend. If you happen to have longer toes than average you may find that when the bend matches you no longer have a thumbnails width of room at the end; that’s OK as long as your toes aren’t actually bumping into the end of the shoe. Likewise, if your toes are shorter than average you may find you have more room than usual; again, that’s perfectly fine as long as the shoe isn’t slipping up and down. If you find that a shoe that fits at the toe bend doesn’t fit otherwise you may need to try on a few other brands to find the one that fits best.

Seeing where a shoe flexes can also help you determine if it has enough stability for you. If you’re looking for a traditional type of running shoe with more stability the only place the shoe should bend is at the toes, not further back by the arch. One the other hand, if you want a minimal shoe that will allow your foot to move unencumbered look for one that will flex down the entire length of the sole (although even in this case there may be more flexibility at the toe than in the rest of the shoe). You can even get shoes that won’t bend at all! These shoes have a special sole called a rocker bottom that allow you to roll through toe-off instead of pushing; which can be real blessing for anyone with Hallux Limitus or Hallux Rigidus (painful arthritic conditions of the big toe).

Assuring a shoe bends at the same place as your foot makes sure your anatomy stays in control and isn’t forced into inappropriate movement because of the shoe. Make your shoe work for you!

~Nicki

Yury's Corner

The Best Exercise Program

People who exercise obviously want to get as many benefits as fast as possible. Unfortunately, the media supports the idea that this is possible...you just need to find the magic program, the right fitness guru, or both. People look for a quick fix, new trends, and hot ideas. Sometimes they look so far outside of the box, the box isn't even in the picture. In this case "the box" is an exercise program based on knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and bio-mechanics, applied to a particular person at a particular time.

Her abs didn't come from that Shake Weight!

So, the question is, "what is the best program?" The answer is both simple and complex at the same time. Simply, it's a program that give you the most benefits without jeopardizing your health. What does that exactly mean? It means that we are all different in age, gender, health, experience, motivation, and other aspects. Even on a day to day basis our physical performance changes due to stress, work load, mental state, and energy levels. What would work for person A today does not necessary work  for person B, or even the same person tomorrow. Things you can do at this time could be too much (or too little) next time, depending on all those factors mentioned above.

How to find a balance and properly apply the right exercises to your body is the complex part. Most people don't have enough expertise and experience to figure that out, so they rely on other sources like the internet, TV, books, and friends. That would probably be OK if all those things were related to the real person in real time. They are not. They should only be considered guidance or a base. The best way to start is to hire a professional who can  help you set things up like which exercises to use, regiments, recovery, ect. As you learn from your own experience, you'll get ideas about how your body responds to specific things. It could take some time: not days, not even month. Be patient.

~Yury

Going for Broke: The American System vs Long Term Development

Though only select few of our clients are world-class athletes, our philosophy has always been that the same principles that work for the development of the worlds best can be applied to anyone. We thought it would be applicable to address the issue of athlete development (and development of any kind for that matter) as often times we feel that our clients can be confused with all the different philosophies out there. To clarify there is no one correct way to exercise, you must always find what works best for you!  What we hope to do is clarify our stance on training and why we feel it gives our clients the best chance to succeed.

It seems today that the world and especially American culture is always looking for the “silver bullet” or shortcut to success. Many times we get people coming in two weeks before their season starts or their big ski trip looking to get in shape.  And even though it might be bad business to consciously turn people away we always take the time to explain to people that our philosophy is always focused on Long Term Development. Specifically when it comes to the high school athlete often times we observe parents and athletes getting frustrated as they feel like they are not getting the “most” out of the time that they have. This article hopes to explain in part why we feel that mindset can often times do more harm than good.

Recently we were reading an article about Alberto Salazar, who solidified himself as one of the best coaches in the world at the Olympics in London this past summer. We could not help but laugh when they asked about his approach to training because we were not sure if they were interviewing Alberto or Yury their philosophies echoed each other so closely. When Alberto was asked about his success developing HS athletes into Olympic medalists he said the following: “The long-term approach is that if you're going to be your best at 26 years old, it's a 10 year program. That doesn't mean they won't be [competing] at a world class level way before that... Somebody else might want to get you there in three or four years and you might get to a higher level in those first few years, but ultimately, I don't think you'll be at the same level than if you take a 10 year approach."1

Unfortunately most high school or even college coaches do not echo this same approach to development because they are limited to 4 years or less to get the “most” out of their athletes. A study published in the Journal of Sport Behavior defined burnout as “a withdrawal from [athletics] noted by a reduced sense of accomplishment, devaluation/ resentment of sport, and physical/psychological exhaustion.”2 The problem we feel with a philosophy that starts with “We’ve only got so much time,” is that it results in a training program that is more rushed which can often lead to taking unnecessary shortcuts that lead to injury and/or burnout.

Whereas we feel that a philosophy that focuses less on time and more on correct overall development usually results in consistent improvement, and a healthy enthusiasm to do more that ultimately leads to a higher ceiling of performance. Below is a great video of Alberto being asked about his thoughts on developing high school athletes that we felt echoes our philosophy pretty well (I recommend at least listening to the first 2 minutes, the rest is up to you!):

http://www.flotrack.org/video/665476-Albertos-new-approach-to-coaching-high-schoolers

Again, there is no one right way to exercise but our philosophy has always been that the same kind of training methods the best coaches and athletes in the world use can be applied to anyone to achieve successful results. Whether that’s making an Olympic final or simply improving your balance! So the question we pose to everyone out there is: If the best believe in it and train that way, why wouldn’t it work for you?

~Sean

References:

1. Kastoff, Mitch. "Alberto Salazar - Coach of the Year, Best of 2012." Flotrack. Flocasts, 30 2012. Web. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <http://www.flotrack.org/article/16594-Alberto-Salazar-Coach-of-the-Year-Best-of-2012>.
2. Understanding athlete burnout: Coach perspectives. Raedeke, Thomas D.; Lunney, Kevin; Venables, Kirk Journal of Sport Behavior, Vol 25(2), Jun 2002, 181-206.

If The Shoe Fits: Toe Box

Unless you're sporting a pair of sandals, every shoe has a toe box...but not every shoe has a toe box shaped like your toes! The toe box is the area that encloses your foot from the knuckle joints (metatarsophalangeal joints) to the tips of your toes.

There are three main foot shapes: Egyptian, Greek, and Square. In the Egyptian foot the toes taper down from the first to the fifth; Greek is similar but the 2nd toe is longer than the first. A square foot will have at least three toes the same length. You may or may not fall neatly into one of these categories, but luckily different brands of shoes have different shaped toe boxes, so with a bit of searching you should be able to find a match.

When looking for a shoe it's important that the shape of the toe box gives your toes plenty of wiggle room; the shoe might fit length wise but if the sides of the shoe press your toes together your feet won't be able to work properly, and you may even end up with bunions or hammer toes! Check out this picture posted by the folks over at Altra; this is the same foot that has been x rayed in a traditional shoe compared to the wide toe box of an Altra shoe. As you can see in the traditional shoe the toes are being squeezed in towards each other.

Besides knowing what your foot shape is and comparing that to the shape of the shoe, there's another test to see if the toe box is right for you: take the insole out and stand on it, if your toes overhang the edge then it's probably not a good fit. Here's an example of four shoes with different shaped toe boxes...these are from my personal collection and I've ran in all of these at one point and time. The red outline is the toe box area so you can get an idea of their basic shape. I have a Greek Foot of medium width, and I've found the Saucony Kinvara and Merrell Bare Access (the ones in the middle) fit me best. As you can imagine the Nike to the far right squeezed my toes too much, and I found the Altra (on the left) a bit too wide for my foot. These shoes all have a lower drop then regular running shoes, but you can find different toe box shapes in traditional shoes as well. So the next time you head out for a new pair of shoes, don't just check the length, make sure your toes also have some wiggle room.

~Nicki

Making The Holidays A Little Healthier

The holiday season often brings together family, friends, and good food; but many of the traditional favorites aren't the healthiest options out there. Although you may not be able to convince the kids to eat carrots instead of cookies, there are a few sneaky ways to make your holiday baking just a tad bit healthier without loosing the flavor!

-Replace regular white flour with whole wheat flour. This will make your end product a little heavier, so it works best for things like cookies...a light, fluffy cake won't turn out very fluffy if you swap flours.

-Reduce the amount of white sugar in your recipe without loosing the sweetness by adding fruit. You can also try out some natural sugar substitutes that have micro-nutrients that is missing white sugar.. Do some test recipes with honey, sucanat (unprocessed cane juice), or coconut sugar.

-Try using applesauce instead of butter; you'll cut the fat content and add a little fiber to your baked goods. This works especially well in brownies!

This recipe for chocolate chip cookies is one that I've tinkered with over the years in an effort to create a cookie with a few more nutrients than your average treat. Although you're never going to find a healthy cookie, this one has a few more nutrients and a good amount of fiber in it...and it still tastes great!

"Healthy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

9 tbs date sugar (or 3/4 cup blond coconut sugar, this replaces white sugar)

3/4 cup sucanat (sucant is unprocessed cane juice, it replaces brown sugar)

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/2 cup canola oil (you can also try applesauce here but be aware that whole wheat flour absorbs more moisture than white flour, so if you use applesauce you may need to play around with the recipe and add some water)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

• Preheat oven to 375°F. With an electric mixer beat the sugars, margarine, oil, vanilla and egg until blended. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl then add them to the other mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Drop a heaping tablespoon of dough on an ungreased cookie sheet, space the cookies about 2 inches apart.
• Bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until very light golden brown (centers should be soft). Cool for a few minutes then place them on a cooling rack. 

If The Shoe Fits: Drop and Ramp

As most of you know, I love shoes...I might even own as many as Yury! Most runners have strong feelings about their shoes, and if you've been shopping lately you've probably noticed that running shoe design is going through a transition, leaving many people wondering which shoe is right for them. So in this multi-part series we'll go over some of the different features you might come across in your search for the perfect running shoe.

Shoe "Drop" or "Ramp Delta"

These two terms are used interchangeably, and are one of the hottest topics in shoes right now. When you see a number, usually in millimeters, followed by "drop" or "ramp," it's referring to the difference between the height of the foam and rubber under your heel to the height under your forefoot. Just a few years ago this information wasn't listed because almost all running shoes (except for racing flats and spikes) had a drop of about 12-14mm; now thanks to the minimalist shoe trend you can choose between a drop of 20mm all the way down to 0. Keep in mind that different companies might give you different information. For example, runningwearhouse.com will tell you the "stack height" for both the heel and forefoot; in this instance just subtract the forefoot from the heel to find the drop.

Here's why this number is important; when you change the plane that your heel is on relative to your forefoot you change the way your muscles and bones work. As an extreme example, think about the way a person's body works when they're wearing a fancy pair of high heels. At the very least, a lot of pressure is being exerted on the forefoot, and when worn regularly, the muscles in the back of the legs will adapt to being in that shortened position and will become tight. There's a lot of other problems that can happen further up your body as well, like in your knees and back, but we'll keep it simple for now and just talk about the foot and lower leg. Running shoes obviously don't have this big of a difference, but they can still cause the same effect to a smaller degree.

Does this mean you should run out and replace all your 12mm drop trainers to a zero drop shoe? Not right away. If you are interested in moving to a lower drop shoe you should do it very gradually; most of us have grown up wearing shoes with a higher heel than forefoot and have spent very little time barefoot, so our muscles and bones haven't adapted to being in that position. Our bodies will need time stretch muscles and tendons back out. Luckily there's a wide range of drops so you can step down slowly; if you've been running in 12mm shoes go down to a 10mm or 8mm first, and see how they feel. Spend some time just walking in them before you go run, and when you do run in them, don't go out for a 20 miler right away. Gradual adaptation is the name of the game, and how long that takes will depend on the person. Always listen to your body and you can't go wrong!

~Nicki

Yury's Corner

Optimal Training Schedule

One of the most common questions people ask us is "how often should I exercise?" The right answer is "on a regular basis" What exactly does this mean?

1. Exercise should be part of your weekly routine. Our body likes cycles (eating , sleeping, and such). It learns patterns and becomes more efficient in the functions it performs.

2. Cardiovascular (CV) training should be alternated or combined with strength training. Each should be done at least twice a week as a base. Normally it takes 48-72 hr. for your body to get "partially" recovered after the training. If the training is done only once a week your body would not "remember" it and would "over-recover," meaning that the training effect would be dissolved. 

3. Frequency and intensity of your program should depend on your fitness goal. If you are trying to lose weight, you should increase the CV portion of your training and focus more on the length of it rather than intensity. If building muscles mass is more important, you should add another weight training session or two to your routine.

Best of luck!

~Yury