The Ascent Journal

Running shoe research is a black box to some degree. Researchers put the shoe on a runner’s foot and have them run. Then, we measure some things while they run. In one sense, you can still argue that the results of this kind of research is useful and well controlled. Through a different lens, by changing the shoe, we’ve changed several things at once. A recent paper proposes one way to think more clearly about what might be going on inside the black box.

The implicit assumption is that all of those mitochondria are created equal. That’s where a new paper by Mikael Flockhart and colleagues at the Swedish School of Sports and Health Science in Stockholm picks up. If not all mitochondria are the same, then what exactly do the bad ones look like, and how do we avoid them?

Super shoes have taken over elite road and tracking running in the decade since they first emerged with Nike’s invention of the Vaporfly 4%. One category of runner that hasn’t gotten the same boost that everyone else got when super shoes appeared: trail runners. Research on trail running can be hard to do. Simulating rock and switchbacks on a treadmill in a laboratory poses some readily apparent challenges. Two recent studies provide some answers though.

Early in my coaching career, I came across this idea that has sort of lurked in the shadows of the coaching world for decades: while science is humming along providing rigorous data on what will move the needle on an athlete’s performance, coaches are the innovators. The narrative goes “Science will likely take 10-20 more years to explain why the practices coaches are using today are effective.” The first 2 months of my masters work involved recalibrating my understanding of

Running-related overuse injuries remain a plague on the sport, sidelining some 20% of runners for at least a few days each training block. Shoe manufacturers and running retailers have worked with clinicians (podiatrists, physical therapists, etc.) to help runners and walkers alike find a footwear solution that will keep them free from injury. With the advances in shoe design and materials science over the last decade, what should we know about footwear's injury-reducing c

What you should know and how to achieve weight loss that serves your ultimate goal.