Welcome back to regular readers and greetings to those finding the Prepared Blog for the first time. It has been a busy fortnight on both the Prepared ATH front and with our sister project Informed Practitioner in Sport, including discussions with partner facilities and prospective initiatives with provincial and national sport organisations. I hope to update further when it all comes to fruition, but on the immediate horizon we have some forthcoming workshops for coaches and practitioners over the coming weeks and months. We also have imminent plans to provide seminars for parents and athletes, so stay tuned.
Over the past week I also attended a public event that featured a debate on the topic of running shoes, with a panel of prominent researchers and advocates in the area of running injury. The nominal theme for the night was the role of running shoes in relation to injury and performance. The event drew a sizeable audience, in a large part because of the ongoing furore over the Nike shoes that have proven instrumental in breaking distance running records, prompting claims of mechanical doping and raising the question of whether the shoes should be banned in competition. Continuing the theme of the debate, the topic for this week is equipment and the question of what tools aspiring athletes should invest in when seeking to improve performance and avoid injury.
EQUIPMENT AS A FACTOR IN PERFORMANCE AND SPORTS INJURY…
Clearly faulty equipment, or equipment malfunction, has the potential to cause injury. A recent example that drew a lot of media attention was the very high profile knee injury sustained by number one NBA draft prospect Zion Williams when his Nike shoes (yes Nike again) split apart as he pivoted on the court during a televised college game. Structural integrity should be a key criteria when purchasing equipment (including shoes)! We should also take appropriate care and attention with equipment maintenance to avoid malfunction and ensure it continues to function properly, from both injury and performance viewpoints.
There are some notable examples, often involving footwear, whereby advances in design features of athletic apparel that were intended to improve performance have actually caused injuries. For instance, sports shoes designed to improve traction on turf proved so effective that they have become a factor contributing to ankle and knee injuries, as the player’s foot becomes ‘stuck’ on the turf.
Beyond performance, protective equipment is an obvious example of the application of equipment to address injury risk specifically. Whilst helmets and other gear certainly reduce the severity of many injuries and provide some protection, the outcome is not always universally positive. Wearing padding and other protective equipment in contact sports has in some instances served to encourage dangerous play. Protective equipment might also paradoxically encourage more risk tasking in other sports. That said, the highly positive trends of the growing use of helmets among recreational skiers and snowboarders in reducing not just head injuries but other injuries provides a very positive example.
Back to running shoes, the very high rates of running injuries among recreational runners in particular came to light some decades ago, and has fuelled the arms race to devise technologies and engineering solutions to improve performance and reduce injury over the period since. The running shoe industry has grown to monstrous proportions (athletic shoe sales represent a $20 billion industry in the US alone), and the quest to reduce running injuries also supports a sub-industry of in-store assessment and consultation with experts to prescribe the right running shoe for the individual.
Sadly, despite the hype, none of this has had any meaningful impact on reducing rates of running injury over the past few decades. Once again there may be a paradoxical effect, whereby the cushioning and increased comfort provided actually makes it less painful to run in a way that is mechanically unsound (for instance, when we run barefoot we very quickly adopt different gait mechanics to reduce impact forces – because it is painful to do otherwise). It therefore appears that cushioned shoes might actually facilitate the poor mechanics that cause injury.
More embarrassing for the shoe manufacturers and experts is that runners often report more pain when they run in the type of running shoe prescribed for their needs (e.g. stability or pronation control), as opposed to running in a randomly assigned shoe or neutral shoe without specialised engineering features.
From these perspectives, one of the most striking things about the new miracle Nike running shoes is that they have actually proven to be effective in producing a measurable benefit in performance (seemingly worth approximately 4 minutes over marathon distance if you’re Eliud Kipchoge). Like the swim suits, the appropriate response when equipment does have this degree of impact is to ban it.
Below the elite level it is however important to realise that the margins are far greater, and so even if the equipment does work it is far less of difference maker. Most readers will have observed the ‘all the gear and no idea’ scenario in different sports. What this illustrates is that purchasing the best equipment does not make you a good athlete or proficient at the sport.
INVESTING RESOURCES…
Part of the reason for the furore over the new Nike shoes is that the manufacturer guidelines state they are good for about 300km for the average runner. Given that these shoes retail at over $300, the cost per kilometre is fairly exorbitant. For context, serious runners might log in excess of 100km in a week. So a pretty extravagant purchase for three weeks use. Those who decide to reserve the miracle shoes just for racing will equally have to contend with the lack of opportunity to adjust to the shoes and figure out how to run in them, which is again likely to negate much of the potential benefit derived.
What people choose to invest in is also illuminating. I am always struck by the sight of recreational cyclists (generally middle aged men) who have invested thousands of dollars on a carbon fibre bike because it is a few hundred grams lighter, when it is apparent that they are conservatively carrying 10 kilograms of excess body weight themselves.
Our own body is the ultimate athletic tool. Whilst the dimensions and potential upper limits are somewhat dependent on choosing our parents well, what separates our bodies from any other tools is that we can modify it to suit our purposes. We can also improve its load tolerance, capacities, and capabilities – there is no technology that can match its adaptability. Even with the advances in technology, engineering, and materials science, no equipment compares to the human body.
The human body is an extraordinary tool and an unmatched triumph of engineering. Equally what we need to bear in mind is that this particular tool cannot be replaced. We should accordingly take utmost care and be suitably diligent when it comes to ongoing maintenance. Whilst replacing our hardware is problematic, the degree of adaptability means that we can upgrade it with exposure to the right conditions over time.
We can also update and upgrade the software on an ongoing basis, and this is a far swifter and more straightforward proposition. In this way we can optimise and better use the hardware that we have to improve its manoeuvrability, handling, and performance.
All in all, when choosing where to invest precious time and resources, our own body is the logical choice. Irrespective of what equipment we might choose, improving the capacities and capabilities of our bodies will have far greater impact on performance. Beyond protective equipment, appropriate training input also allows us to fortify our bodies from the inside out. With assistance and informed coaching input we can similarly learn how to better use our upgraded hardware to further enhance our performance, and become more resilient against injury as a result.
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Readers who are local to Vancouver can also enquire to find out more about the coaching provision on offer, and how to arrange an initial assessment via the ‘Enquire’ link at the top of the page, or email us direct at PreparedATH@gmail.com.
January 31, 2020
