I have been coaching efficient running and injury prevention through optimal running form, foot support, and footwear for years. It would be naïve to rely on the results of sponsored elite athletes and satisfied customers, but initial results from a study started last spring at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology bolstered my ideas.
The study, conducted through the Sports Chemistry class taught by Dr. Patti Christie, took 25 athletic people with various running abilities and put them through an eight-week distance running program. The research was based on running repetitions of 4x800m or 4x1600m while maintaining a constant heart rate.
The first set of intervals was performed in the traditional EVA midsole running shoes that participants started the program in, while the last was performed in Newton Running Trainers (Gravity and Motion). Those preliminary data revealed that all runners who completed each workout posted faster final interval times wearing Newton shoes. The results showed that 77 percent of the runners ran faster in two or more intervals using Newtons and 55 percent of the runners were faster in each interval.
“The results were statistically significant,” says Christie, who is continuing the study with a new group of runners this spring. “It indicates that there is a more efficient way to run. And if you combine the Newton Running technique, ‘Land-Lever-Lift’ with Newton shoes, there is definitely a significant difference.”
If you were to run barefoot on a smooth sidewalk, your body would not suffer a heel impact because it is not designed to withstand the trauma of blunt force from repeated heel strikes. Through greater forefoot communication with the ground, Newton shoes allow the body’s natural propensity for a light forefoot landing, foot leverage, and a lift with each new stride (rather than pushing off), known as the technique “Land-Lever-Lift”.
Newton Running’s patented Action/Reaction forefoot technology encourages a natural or barefoot gait and improves shock absorption, leverage and energy return in the forefoot. Research from Newton’s independent lab shows the system returns up to 28% more energy and reduces impact by up to 44% compared to training and racing shoes offered by leading running brands.
The foundation of the natural shape and midfoot/forefoot gait has been around for decades, largely derived from the super-efficient form that elite runners have been employing for years.
“It’s not new, it’s just that most runners have strayed away from what they used to do or were never taught proper running form,” says Malcolm Balk, a Montreal-based track and field trainer and form guru. and competitive master’s runner who teaches The Art of Running workshops in Canada and the UK. “I think the most important thing is that you need to keep braking to a minimum if you want to reduce the muscular effort and impact that comes with it.”
