Daniel Dittmar, Head Instructor at Focus Pilates road tests some barefoot running shoes.

Well after several recommendations I finally caved in and got myself a pair of Vibram Five Fingers running shoes. For those not in the know, these are “shoes” that have a super slim sole with no cushioning, and have little pockets for each of your toes. A lot like the Toesox that many of our clients wear to their Pilates class. Using these shoes is meant to facilitate a more natural running strategy and ironically decrease the impact on joints compared with running the traditional way with cushioned shoes. With these shoes you have to follow a mid-foot running style which I must admit I have been trying to do with my regular running shoes. So in other words instead of the traditional heel strike, you land half way along your foot and keep your body mass over your feet or slightly forward. This results in a higher running cadence (steps per minute) and less impact into the joints. The super slim sole also encourages your feet to adapt more to your running surface. I’ve been know to harp on in my Pilates classes about the damage walking around on hard flat surfaces as well as shoving your feet in inflexible shoes which is far from what our feet were designed for. We don’t have 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles in our feet to walk around on a hard flat surface, and climb stairs, our feet and muscles are designed to walk on uneven varied surfaces, uphill, downhill etc. Don’t even get me started on wearing high heels….

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Running is generally considered a sport which is quite simple to do, you need no technical training just a decent pair of shoes and some determination. It’s easy to see why it is so popular when compared with other sports like swimming, tennis and golf which require some skill and technique.

Despite this running has evolved to be a fairly technical sport, whereby runners who are keen to run faster and better now look towards changing their running form. In addition to running better and faster, changing one’s running form has also been touted to help with preventing injuries.

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Running is one of the most popular forms of exercise especially if you want to get a decent cardio workout. For those of us who are cooped up in an office all day it’s also a great way to get some fresh air and much needed vitamin D.

Running has many benefits to the body such as improving cardiovascular endurance, aiding weight loss, lowering blood pressure, increasing mineral bone density and muscle tone. If you’re a runner you’ll also know that thanks to those endorphins buzzing around, you’ll notice a positive impact on your happiness and general wellbeing.

As well as having a long list of benefits running can also cause our bodies a lot of pain and discomfort. The impact of the foot onto the ground sends significant force up into our lower legs. The repetitive movement can lead to overloading of muscles and tendons in the legs. So to make sure you stay running at your best we asked Catriona Dourish one of our physiotherapists what the common injuries resulting from running are, how to treat these injuries and most importantly how to prevent them.

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Many runners feel that their running activities alone provide them with a well-rounded fitness program. While it is a great cardiovascular workout it can also lead to imbalances in the body, which may lead to injuries and pain.

Danny Yeo a Senior Instructor at Focus Pilates has come up with some Pilates exercises to ensure you get the most out of your run and stay injury free. Combining running with regular Pilates is a great way to have well-rounded physical fitness and ensure even muscle strength and balance.

The best way to do this is to ensure you have correct posture. This may sound simple enough but there are a lot of things you need to remember…

• keep your pelvis stable (avoid too much arch in your lower back, by drawing abs in)
• avoid dropping the hip on one side
• keep the shoulders over the hips
• open the chest muscles for maximum breathing
• avoid lifting the shoulders
• work on good alignment in the knee, ankle and foot.

So how do you remember to do all of this when you’re having a hard enough time breathing and keeping your legs moving? Well it will take a lot of practice but practicing Pilates will also help you to achieve this by:

• teaching awareness of good posture and the importance of a strong core
• increasing core strength and correcting postural imbalances
• working all muscle groups to create uniform muscle development
• fostering good movement of the spine
• teaching breathing techniques and control
• ensuring muscles around the hip joint stay flexible and strong to support the movement of your legs.
• increasing balance in the muscles of the back and hips
• Improve co-ordination of upper and lower body to improve energy efficiency.

Which exercises will help me to be a better runner?

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