Up until 1972, we had few running injuries, so what happened to change all that? In 1972 the first athletic shoe was invented by Nike. Up until that time people ran in thin-soled shoes, they had stronger feet and had a lower incidence of knee injuries. The athletic shoes became better and more expensive, and injuries did not go down, but instead, they went up. A huge 123%.
Bernard Marti MD a preventative medicine specialist at the Switzerland University of Bern discovered after analyzing 4358 runners that the main cause of injuries was the price of the shoe. Shoes that cost more than $95.00 were twice as likely to get hurt from as the cheaper ones.
Why?
Athletic running shoes do two things that brought about the injuries. First, they encase the foot and second, they support the arch. Our feet are like a representation of our life. Our life was never meant by God to be encased, isolated, alone! When people encase their lives, they become overly protective and sensitive, which causes more isolation. We stop getting out, being with others, we lose our sense of adventure, we run our rabbit trails of security, we become manageable, predictable, non-passionate people and develop phobias.
Second, running shoes support the arch. Your arch is the greatest weight-bearing design ever created! The human arch is buttressed on all sides by 26 bones, 33 joints, 12 tendons and 18 muscles when it becomes supported it goes into atrophy. Like the arch, you were made by God to be fully alive, not supported artificially. So get out of the box of human limitations and begin to live, to thrive! That’s what you were made to do.
You are made for more than what you are currently experiencing, but to get and be more requires a challenge, my series “Born to Run” will give you that challenge. Download it today.
