Synopses & Reviews
“Natural Running is the definitive guide for anyone who craves the joy of effortless and timeless runs.”
—Lorraine Moller, Olympic bronze medalist and co-founder of Lydiard Online Training Systems
Enjoy all the benefits of barefoot running—while wearing shoes.
Natural Running teaches you to run the way nature intended, mimicking the healthy, efficient barefoot style you were born with, while keeping feet safe from rough modern surfaces. Backed by studies at MIT and Harvard, running form and injury expert Danny Abshire explores the science of how the body evolved to run, giving you the practical tools and information to analyze your own feet and form. Natural Running offers the technique, drills, and an 8-week transition plan for faster, better, healthier running.
Discover how you were meant to run.
“Danny brings a simple, sensible approach to transforming your running. His knowledge of running form and biomechanics can help all runners become more efficient.”
—Mark Allen, six-time Ironman World Champion, and co-author of Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You
Danny Abshire is a passionate lifelong runner and co-founder of Newton Running, where he has spent 10 years designing and refining Newton running shoes. As a longtime running form coach and injury expert, he has worked closely with thousands of athletes, from beginners to Olympic elites, helping them improve their running form and technique.
Brian Metzler is Senior Editor for Running Times and has written about endurance sports for Runner’s World, Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, and Outside.
Review
“Danny is one of the lead voices in the current natural running revolution.” — Danny Dreyer, author of ChiRunning
“Abshire has long been a go-to-guy for elite runners and triathletes struggling with injury, and in Natural Running he dives deep into the surrounding subjects ignited by Born to Run.” — Competitor magazine
“Natural Running by Newton Running founder Danny Abshire takes the reader back to the basics. The tools, tips, and 8-week transition plan are designed to get runners to run as efficiently and healthily as possible—the way nature intended.” — Triathlete magazine
“Danny Abshire’s approach gives hope to those who have struggled with injuries and uncomfortable running. He brings a simple, sensible, and usable approach to transforming your running so you can reach your potential. Danny’s knowledge of running form and biomechanics can help all runners become more efficient.” — Mark Allen, six-time Ironman® World Champion, co-founder of MarkAllenOnline.com coaching, and co-author of Fit Soul, Fit Body: 9 Keys to a Healthier, Happier You
“Danny Abshire has devoted his professional life to studying and teaching proper and efficient running technique. He has worked with some of the best runners and triathletes in the history of endurance sports and just speaking to him will make you a better runner." — Craig Alexander, three-time Ironman® World Champion
“One of the virtues of Natural Running is the education on running biomechanics that it provides. A comprehensive, understandable overview of this topic has been badly needed since the barefoot running trend began with Born to Run. Abshire covers everything from the structure of the foot to individual gait assessment.” — Running.Competitor.com
“Running efficiently is a precursor to running any distance fast and exuberantly. No one knows this better than Danny Abshire, whose lifelong study of the body in motion has helped many champions reach their goals, me included. Natural Running is the definitive guide for anyone who craves the joy of effortless and timeless runs.” — Lorraine Moller, four-time Olympian and Olympic bronze medalist and co-founder of Lydiard Online Training Systems
“For two decades Danny Abshire has been a lone voice in the wilderness, patiently showing the fortunate few the correct way to run. Now the rest of the running world gets the chance to learn from Abshire's running-form wisdom in Natural Running. With the pendulum finally swinging towards proper running shoes and technique, I expect Natural Running to be the standard reference source for years to come.” — Mike Sandrock, author of Running with the Legends
“Danny Abshire has an innate knowledge of running biomechanics and an ability to translate his knowledge into a fix for running injuries.” — Paul Huddle, triathlon coach, contributor to Triathlete magazine and author of Start to Finish Ironman Training 24 Weeks to an Endurance Triathlon
Synopsis
Natural running is the newest trend for competitive runners — and the oldest. Based on barefoot running techniques, natural running uses the science of biomechanics to emulate the gait of "naked" running to reduce injury while increasing speed and efficiency.
Natural Running presents the science, the history, the technique, and the training plans that will show readers the whys and hows of this new athletic movement. Backed by the empirical data from kinesiological studies at MIT and Harvard and drawing on research by medical pioneers, Natural Running will show runners of any ability how they can improve their running mechanics and enjoy distance running as never before.
Synopsis
Natural Running is the middle ground runners have been looking for. By learning to run the barefoot way—while wearing shoes—runners will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners. Backed by studies at MIT and Harvard, running form and injury expert Danny Abshire presents the natural running technique, form drills, and an 8-week transition plan that will put runners on the path to faster, more efficient, and healthier running.
In Natural Running, Abshire explains how modern running shoes distort the efficient running technique that humans evolved over thousands of years. He reviews the history of running shoes and injuries, making the case for barefoot running but also warning about its dangers. By learning the natural running technique, runners can enjoy both worlds—comfortable feet, knees, and legs and an efficient running form that reduces impact and injuries.
Natural Running teaches runners to think about injuries as symptoms of poor running form. Abshire specifies the overuse injuries that are most commonly associated with particular body alignment problems, foot types, and form flaws. Runners will learn how to analyze and identify their own characteristics so they can start down the path to natural running.
Abshire explains the natural running technique, describing the posture, arm carriage, cadence, and land-lever-lift foot positioning that mimic the barefoot running style. Using Abshire's 8-week transition plan and a tool kit of strength and form drills, runners will move from heel striking to a midfoot or forefoot strike.
Natural Running is the newest way to run and also the oldest. By discovering how they were meant to run, runners will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners.
Synopsis
Natural Running is the middle ground runners have been looking for. By learning to run the barefoot way—while wearing shoes—runners will become more efficient, stronger, and healthier runners. Backed by studies at MIT and Harvard, running form and injury expert Danny Abshire presents the natural running technique, form drills, and an 8-week transition plan that will put runners on the path to faster, more efficient, and healthier running.
About the Author
Danny Abshire is the co-founder of Newton Running, a Boulder, Colorado-based company that makes shoes that promote an efficient midfoot/forefoot running gait. He has been making advanced footwear for runners and triathletes for more than 20 years.
Brian Metzler is a senior editor at Running Times magazine, a running coach, and a former collegiate track runner. He is an award-winning journalist who has written about various topics in running and conducted running shoe wear-testing for magazines since the late 1990s. He was also the founding editor of Trail Runner magazine in 1999.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Paula Newby-Fraser Acknowledgments
Introduction: Evolution to a Running Revolution 1 What Is Natural Running?
2 Evolution of a Sport and a Shoe 3 Into the Lab: Examining Your Running Form
4 The Science of Motion: Three Gaits 5 Foot Biomechanics: A Close Examination
6 The Physics of Running: Whole-Body Kinematics 7 A New Way to Look at Common Running Injuries
8 Natural Running, Unnatural World 9 Dynamic Strength and Form Drills
10 Natural Running An Eight-Week Transition Plan
Resources Index
About the Authors