Lightweight trainers mean less impact, less fatigue and faster recovery

Wearing lightweight running shoes and running with soft footsteps can be very beneficial for a runner of any capability or feel level.

Shoes

If you have good form with a natural running (midfoot/forefoot) gait and you wear lightweight shoes, running can put you in a state of euphoric bliss as you easily click off the miles. Everything flows together harmoniously and efficiently, no matter if you're running a dinky or a marathon.

But if you have inefficient form and wear heavier, overbuilt shoes - and the two often go hand-in-hand - the easy act of running can fast become very destructive to your body. Heavier training shoes typically weigh more because they have built-up heels, which translate to steep ramp angles of 8 to 15 percent. This encourages a heavy heel-striking gait and braking, both of which have been shown to cause a variety of overuse injuries.

Conversely, lightweight training shoes that have a very low heel-toe slope (5 percent or less) encourage more of a natural running gait in which the foot hits the ground very lightly and almost level near the ball of the foot (very similarly to how a bare foot would engage the ground).

So how light is lightweight? modern materials and manufacturing techniques - including less stitching, fewer overlays and lighter midsoles - are allowing shoes to get lighter and lighter. Training shoes still range from 7.5 to 9.5 ounces (depending on gender and shoe size) to 11.0 to 12.5 ounces. Two or three ounces might not seem like much, but you can feel the variation on your feet once you lace your shoes up and you'll in effect feel the effects after a long run.

But while lightweight shoes are good for all runners (especially when appealing in an effective natural running gait), it's not only the actual weight that makes the difference. It's also about how the shoe is built and how much downward energy it can turn into transmit propulsion.

However, that kind of midfoot or forefoot running gait does not mean running on your toes like a sprinter. Instead, allow your foot to strike directly under your body and lift your foot off the ground instead of pushing off hard like a sprinter. Institution this method of landing lightly, let the foot conclude level to the ground, then lever transmit and lift the foot off the ground.

The benefits to wearing lighter shoes consist of less braking (and therefore less impact), less muscle strain and less energy production because you're lifting the weight of the shoe off the ground instead of using excessive muscular force to push off the ground.

Simple math says if you're carrying an added 2 ounces over 25,000 steps in a half marathon or 50,000 steps in a marathon, it means you're lugging an extra 3,000 to 6,500 pounds to the finish line. And the variation of the impact transients - the forces that shoots up your body upon your foot's impact with the ground - is considerably more with a heel-striking gait in a heavier shoe than it is with a lightweight shoe that promotes an easy midfoot or forefoot gait. The composition of all of these factors means you feel less corporeal exertion and less fatigue in a lightweight shoe, and that ultimately means you'll recover faster.

There's a easy way to feel the metabolic differences of running with a lightweight, minimally constructed shoe compared to running in a shoe that's some ounces heavier. After warming up, run a mile in a pair of 12-ounce trainers on a track at a pre-determined pace (say 8 minutes, which means 60 seconds for every 200 meters) and record your heart rate data with a heart rate monitor. Then lace up a pair of 9-ounce trainers and run other mile at the same 8-minute pace. You'll likely find your heart rate is 5 to 10 percent less during the second mile when you're wearing lighter shoes, even though each mile was run at an identical pace.

The lowest line is that the weight of your training shoes can play a big role in how effective you are as a runner. Lightweight shoes, especially ones that allow you to run with a natural gait and soft midfoot/forefoot footstrikes, can lessen muscle strain and fatigue, improve your stamina and help you recover faster, all factors in improving your running. But if you're considering changing your running form or the style of shoes you wear, do it slowly and carefully to avoid injury.

Lighter Running Shoes Are better

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