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What is the correct steep downhill running technique for barefoot and/or minimalist shoes?
Do we know why Abebe Bikila & Zola Budd (two of the most famous barefoot runners ever) stopped running barefoot?
I believe whether you wear shoes or not, steep downhill running technique remains the same. Before discussing technique, a defining factor that is
more important is whether you are in a short race, a long race or in a training run. For the short race where there will be no long term/later impact
on performance due to fatiguing eccentric quadriceps contractions or micro trauma to eccentrically stressed tissue, I suggest “letting go” &
extending your stride length to utilize gravitational force to accelerate. Impact forces will of course increase greatly with increased velocity, so,
range of motion, eccentric muscle conditioning & technique are crucial if you wish to gain the performance benefits without hurting yourself.
Increase, or at least maintain stride rate when descending this way. However, in a longer event, or in a training run, the opposite is true; you want
to save your quads. Research on Boston Marathon runners has shown that they lose up to 75% of their quad power in the 1st 6 miles.
To run best downhill in training & in long races is to reduce stride length, up stride rate, especially if you typically have a slower stride rate. That’s
easy, but now the odd part: I teach shod runners to use friction between shoe sole & surface, when it’s dirt, to take some pressure off their quads,
but I have them land mid foot, ala bare foot or minimalist proponents! This falls in line with redistribution of load bearing around the knee (quads)
to the foot & achilles/soleus complex. Without something, even a Vibram Five Finger or thin sandal obviously friction control becomes more
challenging unless the feet are highly conditioned (read callused). The other technical aspects of running downhill, especially when it is steep, are
the following:
The increased foot contacts (^stride rate) will reduce deceleration time & increase balance & control & a skittering type soft motion, flowing down
the hill becomes possible, rather than a launch & impact type of lumbering motion. Experiment & practice & watch a Border Collie – you’ll get it!
more important is whether you are in a short race, a long race or in a training run. For the short race where there will be no long term/later impact
on performance due to fatiguing eccentric quadriceps contractions or micro trauma to eccentrically stressed tissue, I suggest “letting go” &
extending your stride length to utilize gravitational force to accelerate. Impact forces will of course increase greatly with increased velocity, so,
range of motion, eccentric muscle conditioning & technique are crucial if you wish to gain the performance benefits without hurting yourself.
Increase, or at least maintain stride rate when descending this way. However, in a longer event, or in a training run, the opposite is true; you want
to save your quads. Research on Boston Marathon runners has shown that they lose up to 75% of their quad power in the 1st 6 miles.
To run best downhill in training & in long races is to reduce stride length, up stride rate, especially if you typically have a slower stride rate. That’s
easy, but now the odd part: I teach shod runners to use friction between shoe sole & surface, when it’s dirt, to take some pressure off their quads,
but I have them land mid foot, ala bare foot or minimalist proponents! This falls in line with redistribution of load bearing around the knee (quads)
to the foot & achilles/soleus complex. Without something, even a Vibram Five Finger or thin sandal obviously friction control becomes more
challenging unless the feet are highly conditioned (read callused). The other technical aspects of running downhill, especially when it is steep, are
the following:
- Allow the vertical line from the horizontal surface which you would normally lean forward from to be the line of gravity, i.e. when standing
facing down a steep slope you would have to lean back to stay in balance – that line is the line you lean off or stay on – any further back &
you are braking excessively, any further forward & you will over – rotate & lose control. - Lower you arms somewhat – to lower your center of mass & increase your balance
- And finally, & bare foot & minimalist footwear should encourage this as kinesthetically you will do this as a protective instinct, step down the
hill! Often shod runners will step out from the surface & drop down, increasing impact forces & thus fatigue & possibly the risk of injury. Good
downhill runners stay close to the ground, lower any vertical oscillation component & run along the decline, rather than out & down to it
The increased foot contacts (^stride rate) will reduce deceleration time & increase balance & control & a skittering type soft motion, flowing down
the hill becomes possible, rather than a launch & impact type of lumbering motion. Experiment & practice & watch a Border Collie – you’ll get it!
There is much written about those 3 Olympics & there is a great deal of myth around what really went down in the footwear department. As far
as I can tell he was a late inclusion into the Rome Olympics & had done ALL his training barefoot. There were few shoes left when he arrived
(Adidas I believe) & he tried a few in the streets of Rome & said they pinched him & decided to go barefoot. There is talk that some runners
ridiculed his decision & Ron Clark apparently spoke to him about it before the race started.
The next Olympics was 40 days after an appendectomy, so he went, but they did NOT expect him to run. He was courted by Onitsuka, the
founder & head of Tiger (which was later to become ASICS), but the big pressure purportedly came from Puma & Adidas, with Abebe eventually
deciding on Puma. In 68, in Mexico, he was recovering from a stress fracture, was wearing shoes, but the bone had not healed & he dropped
out. His countryman & teammate, Momo Wolde, who went on to win, said if he had not been injured he would definitely have won.
So it might have been a sponsor thing, or a surface thing, given that he trained on dirt roads.
As for Zola Budd (now Zola Budd-Pieterse), who is a friend from the past, she had her share of injuries, but, as I said on the panel, she grew up
barefoot, going to school, playing sport & pretty much 24 hours per day, as have her children also. Like all distance runners & as Alan Culpepper
said, she had her share of minor niggles & injuries, plus if I recall, a few more serious ones, but, as she states below in a New York Times article,
she always wore running shoes training & racing on the road & raced cross country & track barefoot.
Will she wear shoes (in the 2008 New York Marathon)?
as I can tell he was a late inclusion into the Rome Olympics & had done ALL his training barefoot. There were few shoes left when he arrived
(Adidas I believe) & he tried a few in the streets of Rome & said they pinched him & decided to go barefoot. There is talk that some runners
ridiculed his decision & Ron Clark apparently spoke to him about it before the race started.
The next Olympics was 40 days after an appendectomy, so he went, but they did NOT expect him to run. He was courted by Onitsuka, the
founder & head of Tiger (which was later to become ASICS), but the big pressure purportedly came from Puma & Adidas, with Abebe eventually
deciding on Puma. In 68, in Mexico, he was recovering from a stress fracture, was wearing shoes, but the bone had not healed & he dropped
out. His countryman & teammate, Momo Wolde, who went on to win, said if he had not been injured he would definitely have won.
So it might have been a sponsor thing, or a surface thing, given that he trained on dirt roads.
As for Zola Budd (now Zola Budd-Pieterse), who is a friend from the past, she had her share of injuries, but, as I said on the panel, she grew up
barefoot, going to school, playing sport & pretty much 24 hours per day, as have her children also. Like all distance runners & as Alan Culpepper
said, she had her share of minor niggles & injuries, plus if I recall, a few more serious ones, but, as she states below in a New York Times article,
she always wore running shoes training & racing on the road & raced cross country & track barefoot.
Will she wear shoes (in the 2008 New York Marathon)?
- "Yes," she said, smiling, explaining that she always wore shoes to train and race on the roads. Only when she ran track and cross-
country did she go barefoot. “I still can’t understand why people think it’s strange to run barefoot,” said Budd Pieterse, who grew
up on a farm in Bloemfontein, South Africa. “It’s just a lifestyle. My kids went to school barefoot. It’s normal.”
For more answers to questions about running downhill, check out Bobby McGee's book's and DVD's
For more interesting anecdotes from Bobby McGee, check out his blog
Does lower body weight & lower percent of body fat mean you are more efficient and less prone to injury?
What about the fact that racing flats are almost always more snug than training shoes? Is that valid minimalism?
Not necessarily. It really has much more to due with biomechanics and foot strike. There are plenty of 100lb
women that get injured simply due to having poor mechanics which lend to more injury incident. I do think
that body mass does have a direct effect on one’s ability to transition into a more minimal shoe and running
more efficiently at higher rates of speed.
women that get injured simply due to having poor mechanics which lend to more injury incident. I do think
that body mass does have a direct effect on one’s ability to transition into a more minimal shoe and running
more efficiently at higher rates of speed.
Curious what type of foot strike you have? Stop by Solepepper Sports in
Louisville and have their friendly staff examine your running form.
Louisville and have their friendly staff examine your running form.
Snug fit certainly plays a role as it allows the foot to transition much quicker. Try and run a 30 sec 200m in an
everyday training shoe and it becomes very clear that the shoe cannot keep up with the transition of the foot
hitting and propelling off the ground. Midsole height is another element along with differentiation of midsole
heel height compared to midsole forefoot height. All the above elements come together to provide a less
cumbersome ride at higher rates of speed and more accommodating to midfoot strike.
everyday training shoe and it becomes very clear that the shoe cannot keep up with the transition of the foot
hitting and propelling off the ground. Midsole height is another element along with differentiation of midsole
heel height compared to midsole forefoot height. All the above elements come together to provide a less
cumbersome ride at higher rates of speed and more accommodating to midfoot strike.
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