AM I DOING IT RIGHT? THE STORY AFTER YOUR MBT SHOE PURCHASE
As far as the MBT shoes are concerned, always the best thing to do is relax! MBT shoes work on a very simple principle. Our bodies are designed to move very efficiently, with endurance, barefoot on uneven ground. When in MBT shoes, because there is no cushioning or padding or support, it is as if your feet are unshod, and the unstable sole recreates naturally uneven ground no matter how even and hard the man-made material under the shoe. So you have to balance, as nature intended, and, as nature intended, it should feel easy and comfortable.
If you are listening to your body, it will be giving you all sorts of clues as to its postural comfort – and if you’re comfortable then you are using your body as it is designed to be used. Muscular strain is either overuse or inappropriate use. It is hard in MBT shoes to be too far back – you have to really try hard to do this – and don’t forget, correct body usage should be relaxed and effortless. It is relatively easy to be forward when wearing MBT shoes, because habitually we adopt this position when wearing any stable shoe against man-made even surfaces. Helpfully, forward stances in MBT shoes won’t be comfortable because you are using the postural muscles (the balancing ones) under strain. The idea being, you break your bad habits simply because they are not comfortable enough to bother maintaining.
Truly the answer is simple. If the feet aren’t doing the work, then the correct muscles will be, ie the buttocks and hamstrings…but not under strain. Go for a little walk in your new MBTs and simply experiment with your style. (And don’t go too fast – focus on technique first, and the power to go faster will develop quite naturally over time.) If you lean back in MBTs, you have to work very hard not to topple over and it doesn’t feel natural. Lean slightly forward and feel the toes start to grip or cling. Somewhere in the middle of those two positions is an easy and comfortable stance, where the tiny muscles of the feet can relax and the huge muscle groups of the glutes and hams can kick in. Your feet work hard enough as it is carrying your body weight around for your entire life – don’t make them work extra by using them as a power muscle for forward motion…they are so small as to be completely inefficient!
If you are back in the area and have any questions regarding your MBT shoe purchase, any of the Ten-Point team would be happy to pop you back on the treadmill and give you a confidence-boosting steer. It has to be said though, that once fitting and basic training is completed, the treadmill only has limited use as a gait-corrector, because everyone tries too hard when they are on it, and what we want is for you to relax! That’s why the 1-1 sessions are always so productive. Off we go for an hour, outside, on regular ‘modern’ western-world man-made surfaces, you relax quickly whilst we chat and I can then correct your gait pattern as we go. We cover inclines, declines, roll-trotting into running if that’s what you want, how it feels when technique deteriorates and how wonderful it feels when good technique is maintained. Everyone improves! And then using the technology of the MBT shoes becomes more natural. Just call the shop if you need to arrange this and we'll be delighted to help.
