What has been your experience in zero drop or minimal drop running shoes?

Steve from Flordia wrote:

heyyo wrote:

I had the first pair of the instincts, but didn't like them. They felt really clunky and poorly fitting in the toe box. Have they improved over the years?

Altras across the board are definitely improving, both in function and appearance. They still have a long way to go in the aesthetics department.

I've never loved a shoe as much as I loved the Altra Instinct 1.0. The toe box fit my feet perfectly.

Different strokes...

Fleet feet wrote:

Of course, I'm a sample of one.

^This

Using anything different for faster stuff?

Also, these look like quite a nice adjustment in the right direction again.

http://www.runningwarehouse.com/Altra_One_V3/descpage-AOV3M4.html

You are extremely fortunate, and of a significant minority. Studies on large numbers of people who run consistently show injury occurs in 50% of runners per year and above (some show up to 80%). This must be taken with a grain of salt, as some of these studies include beginners, overweights, etc., and "injury" definitions are different from study to study, but still, the take home is that most people who run get injured. Just from my personal interactions with competitive runners, almost all have had an injury at some time or another.

Anyhow, it's interesting how zero drop is considered by many to be some sort of odd concept, and departure from what is the gold standard. The reality is that the 10-12 mm drop shoes typical of the past 40+ years is the odd concept. For all time before that, athletic shoes of all sports were zero drop, and for most sports except running remained zero drop throughout that period. I guess when you grow up knowing nothing else, unless you open your mind up and think about what makes sense and what doesn't, you'll accept things to be correct as they are.

Switched to Altras not too long ago and I'll never run in anything that is not zero drop again.

If you don't know about the owner of Altra (and I bet you do), you should read this. He has a great running history:https://goldenharper.wordpress.com/about/

John Utah wrote:

Switched to Altras not too long ago and I'll never run in anything that is not zero drop again.

Just wow... wrote:

You are extremely fortunate... This must be taken with a grain of salt, as some of these studies include beginners, overweights, etc....

I'm a very overweight runner. Always have been. Although it seems logical, there is little evidence that being overweight actually increases injury risk. In fact, some studies have found that overweight runners were less likely to be injured.

My laziness and lack of drive is probably what has saved me. Except for when I first started and went from zero to 40 miles per week in a month, I've always built up slowly and rarely got to overtraining.

Scubacane wrote:

Master runner here and bigger- 6-4 , 195

For the last year I've been alternating Altra Torins and Hoka Cliftons and have been injury free. I like the zerodrop but definitely need cushioning

From trying on several Hokas and Altras at the shops I was looking at getting this Clifton and Torin combo. The sizing though definitely not consistent I would be one size up in Hokas from New Balance...

I had been battling a case of plantar fasciitis and used a pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 15s to return to running after the acute phase of the injury was over. Coincidentally, I had a new pair of Nike Free 4.0s sitting in the closet. I was nervous to try them as I figured they would be the wrong way to go, coming back from PF. However, a big part of my PF re-hab was an extensive strengthening and mobility program to improve my foot strength (in conjunction with strength work for the hips, glutes etc.).

Long story short, I was at a point where the PF was on the road to recovery, but slowly. One day I decided to do a short run in the Frees (6 km). It went surprisingly well and I used the Frees the next day. And so on… I very quickly got to the point where I was doing five out of seven days on the Frees, including long runs and some speedwork), and the other two days on the Brooks. What surprised me was how the final healing of my PF sped up dramatically at this point. I am sure it owed a lot to my extensive re-hab work, but I think the shoes helped further develop the foot strength and function (at least they didn’t hurt!)

I feel that running In “less” shoe is generally good, as it helps more fully strengthen and develop the anatomy, particularly the foot. However, I think that how quickly one can transition to this is highly dependent on their body’s current state (strength of underused foot muscles, injuries etc.) In my case, the I started using the Frees once I was well on the road to recovery, which I believe meant that I already had improved certain functional strength factors. Going to those shoes earlier on when the injury was more acute may have been exactly the wrong thing to do.

Also, each minimal + lower drop shoe has its own characteristics and fit will still be user-specific. The Frees work well for me, as the fit is really comfortable to my foot, particularly in the toebox. I know that minimal and low-drop do not automatically go together, but I think most shoes that tend towards minimal construction TEND to also be low drop…

Sasquatch wrote:

Just wow... wrote:

You are extremely fortunate... This must be taken with a grain of salt, as some of these studies include beginners, overweights, etc....

I'm a very overweight runner. Always have been. Although it seems logical, there is little evidence that being overweight actually increases injury risk. In fact, some studies have found that overweight runners were less likely to be injured.

My laziness and lack of drive is probably what has saved me. Except for when I first started and went from zero to 40 miles per week in a month, I've always built up slowly and rarely got to overtraining.

Fellow fatty. I have a theory that for new runners (this doesn't apply to those who ran through HS/college) someone who is chubby will have more leg muscles than someone who is thin, assuming they both have the same baseline activity level. Also someone who is chubby simply won't be able to push themselves as fast as a thinner person, and therefore might spend more time building up miles and building up pace. I know my form suffers more and I am more likely to be in pain the day after speedwork.

Most fat people take their fatness as evidence that they are not fit and are more likely to take it easy. A thin person who does yoga every 2 months maybe doesn't realize they also are out of shape and are likely to push too hard too soon.

Potentially useful thread for you. I am doing this to most of my shoes now. Fun thing is, I now have to be much less particular about what model shoes I buy, as they all become "low drop" once I am done with them.

Tried really really hard to adapt to zero drop Altras, two different times. Same problems both times- posterior chain pain in the back/hips. I'd go back to Nikes with 8mm heel and problems would go away. I've run too many miles for too long in 4-12mm shoes. Zero drop doesn't work for everyone.

As a child I didn't go barefoot much. Ran through most of high school training in the Adidas Response Trail. That was before they measured drop, but I have to assume it was around 12mm. All of this is to say that I went through my formidable years wearing close to a 12mm drop except during races. Achilles/calf always felt tight after races.

I didn't run for a team in college.

After college I tried to go toward more minimal shoes. I could do it for 40 mpw, but by the time I hit something like 70 mpw it was too much for my Achilles. I kept at it for a pretty long time trying to make a gradual adaptation and nothing seemed gradual enough.

Recently I've gotten more accustomed to a 10mm drop injury free, but I know it would be folly to go any lower. I just spent too much time in my younger years with built up heels. I'm sure that nature intended me to handle barefoot and low drop just fine, but that's not how I nurtured or adapted my body through my most important years of development. It's 10-12mm drop for me for life now. Fortunately Adidas and Brooks make some good shoes in this range.

Having torn my right achilles completely several years ago and getting back into training again the last year I'm very interested in these lack of injury posts.

However this talk of sore calves several guys have mentioned worries me, last thing i want is another few years out with another achilles rupture.

Has anyone transitioned to low/no drop shoes that previously had achilles issues? I'm thinking dropping the drop a couple of mm a year is probably safest but am wondering if its advisable at all for people like myself?

achilles busters wrote:

Having torn my right achilles completely several years ago and getting back into training again the last year I'm very interested in these lack of injury posts.

However this talk of sore calves several guys have mentioned worries me, last thing i want is another few years out with another achilles rupture.

Has anyone transitioned to low/no drop shoes that previously had achilles issues? I'm thinking dropping the drop a couple of mm a year is probably safest but am wondering if its advisable at all for people like myself?

I think you need to be really careful about this and probably have a P.T. assess your range of motion, strength, etc., before considering such a move, and if you do decide to go for it, do it like you described - very gradually. If you have chronic decreased ankle range of motion or early degenerative changes in the other Achilles, the lower drop may make it vulnerable to rupture. Also, the priorly ruptured Achilles may have left that ankle reduced in dorsiflexion, or sometimes the opposite, if healed in a lengthened state, it could give excessive dorsiflexion/weakness in plantarflexion/propulsion, which would not benefit from lower heel. A P.T. may be able to get you to transition more easily with the assistance of exercises to prep you for the change.

Thanks Just wow, I think i'll start off with a 10mm drop for a short 5k run a week keeping my regular 12mm drop for the other runs and see how that goes, any pain in the achilles and will take it as a lesson learned. I'm religiously going heel drops and raises now on both sides which seems to have so far, touch wood, stabilised things, maybe I should just be happy at that.

achilles busters wrote:

Having torn my right achilles completely several years ago and getting back into training again the last year I'm very interested in these lack of injury posts.

However this talk of sore calves several guys have mentioned worries me, last thing i want is another few years out with another achilles rupture.

Has anyone transitioned to low/no drop shoes that previously had achilles issues? I'm thinking dropping the drop a couple of mm a year is probably safest but am wondering if its advisable at all for people like myself?

Instead of dropping a few mm a year, I would use a low drop show once a week for a recovery run, and then maybe slowly increase the frequency/mileage I use them. That's how I got into minimal drop shoes and I've never looked back. Used to be injured constantly for a few years, only injury I had recently was from falling on ice.

I came into Altras because of the toe box--my foot is so wide, even Altras are too narrow for me, but a minimalist shoe like the Altra Superior 2.0 also has a thin mesh upper, allowing the outside of my foot to stretch out over the edge of the shoe.So I bought a pair of Superior 2.0s and promptly ran trail 20 miles the next day. DON'T DO THIS! I am an old, fat office worker, who doesn't stand much, so my feet are weak and I have always run in standard stacked running shoes, my lower legs weren't ready for the extra work. Slowly up your mileage. I really tweaked my previously tweaked right Achilles, and that took a few months to feel normal again. Since I am kind of stupid, I kept up the mileage on the trail every weekend in those shoes due to the bigger toe box, but the trade-off was the calf/Achilles pain. Don't be dumb like me, ease into the zero drop.One other thing, if you run trails and live in an area with lots of rocks, also ease into anything minimalist. Superior 2.0s don't offer much protection, so between the zero drop and the lack of cushion, some, not all, Altras can be a bit challenging to office workers like me. If you are a construction guy or someone on their feet all the time, I doubt the change to minimalism will matter much.PS You can always get a heel lift at a shoe store. I had no idea such a thing existed until a friend showed me the one he has in his Altras to add a little lift.