Latest interview with the Angry Podiatrist Kevin Kirby

Barefoot TJ

Barefoot TJ

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Mar 5, 2010
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#1
Check out the latest news interview with the Angry Podiatrist Kevin Kirby and Patrick Sweeney (no, not that one), Owner of FleetFeet in Sacramento, about barefoot running and minimalist running.

Kirby posted this on the Podiatry Arena website: I was interviewed by a Sacramento television station in June 2010 on barefoot running, Vibram FiveFingers along with Pat Sweeney, the owner of the largest Fleet Feet running shoe store in Sacramento. Here is the video for all of you who may be interested.



Seems Kirby is a little less anal these days, possibly starting to see the light?, but still has no clue about how a shoe's construction can affect a runner's gait (strike/landing). Listen to what he says later in the clip. Pitiful. We're getting there, but there's still so much more work to do.

http://www.podiatry-arena.com/podiatry-forum/showthread.php?t=73929
 
#2
OK, so I'm only a minute in

OK, so I'm only a minute in and just wondering... at what point will the novelty of Vibrams wear off for news anchors? I mean, I guess I know they're job is to be the dummy asking questions. But really, Vibrams have been around for what 5 years?
 
#3
I have a feeling that this

I have a feeling that this guy would advise people to get their orthotics first and then go injure themselves. Ach, he actually jsut sounded out of his depth and pretty behind the info wave. No biggie,,,the anchor seemed to like th VFFs, though.

If I wanted to get catty I'd start slagging his dull brown suit. Dull, dull, dull.
 
#5
I don't disagree with Kirby

I don't disagree with Kirby or Sweeney. Their points are more or less the same things we talk about, just from a different perspective. Kirby often talks about the need for foot coffins due to the fact that people have run in foot coffins for years, which is true. He talks about it not being for everyone, also true. Both agree that form is important and agree that a shorter, faster cadence is the key. Kirby talks about the shifting of injuries when going from maximally-shod to barefoot, which is true.

I'd really only disagree with his suggestion to start on grass. That's just dumb.

I've encountered much worse podiatrists and running specialty store owners...
 
#6
Regardless of anything else,

Regardless of anything else, I get the distinct impression that Sweeney only sells VFFs because they are money makers for him. I don't know why specifically, but I get the feeling he thinks VFFs are stupid and so is barefoot/minimalist running. Just an observation and I readily acknowledge that I could be way off base.
 
#7
Matt M wrote:OK, so I'm only

Matt M said:
OK, so I'm only a minute in and just wondering... at what point will the novelty of Vibrams wear off for news anchors? I mean, I guess I know they're job is to be the dummy asking questions. But really, Vibrams have been around for what 5 years?
Click to expand...



+1! I think Vibrams have actually been around for 10 years now, could be wroing though, but people just never knew about them.
 
#8
I don't know how old this

I don't know how old this piece actually is, but I would love to see if we could get to this anchor one more time and do a representation for BF BF running...(without the brown suited speaker for the establishment, maybe.)

I'd especially like to get the word out on the scientific bases for BFR, and the FUN aspects as well.

I'd call him up and volunteer myself, but I'm not at all photogenic and live a little too far away.

Anybody game?
 
#9
This is a very recent (days)

This is a very recent (days) interview. Don't forget though, the brown suit is the reporter's personal doctor, so he isn't going to be in favor of anything that goes against what his doc says.
 
#10
Interestingly, I might be

Interestingly, I might be doing a clinic at that Fleet Feet.
devil_smile.gif
 
#11
 too painful too watch.I

too painful too watch.

I would pay to watch barefoot Ted explain to the podiatrist how he is "doggedly dogmatic about not being dogmatic or something like that"

:)
 
#13
From the three studies Kirby

From the three studies Kirby cites in his retort to Dr. C. about heel-striking being the "preferred" landing/gait, he adds:

Therefore, the scientific research, to date, has clearly shown that between 75 to 90% of runners choose to rearfoot strike (RF) vs. midfoot strike (MF) vs. forefoot strike (FF). The key word here is that they "choose" to run this way. No one has either "allowed" or "not allowed" them to run this way. Runners choose how to run by themselves, not by some higher authority either "allowing them" or "not allowing them" to run with a certain gait pattern. The research generally suggests that runners will choose the most metabolically efficient and/or comfortable kinematic pattern of running gait for a given surface, for a given pair of running shoes (or no shoes) and/or a given running speed.

This is where I have a problem with any research that would back up heel-striking... I would wager these test subjects were shod in traditional footwear when they took part in these studies!

Of course people are going to heel-strike when you put them in 1-1/2" heeled boat anchors, you DAs!

Saying that a runner has the "choice" how to run when the shoes control how they run ticks me off!

Take the shoes off and see if their gate changes. Most people's gait changes to a ball of foot landing. Better yet, let them never have worn high-heeled running shoes in the first damn place and see if they "choose" to heel-strike!
 
#14
Even Dr. C. agrees with

Even Dr. C. agrees with me:

My point is that what were are doing is not greatly helping runners if injury rates remain this high. Runners are not choosing to heel strike, they are forced to by what we have been teaching and allowing with exaggerated cushioned heeled shoes. Even a runner who is capable of forefoot or midfoot striking cannot run efficiently or properly in a traditional running shoe.
 
#16
Of course the percentage of

Of course the percentage of runners heel-striking is high. They are running in heels! That's not a gait that they "choose" to adopt. That's a gait the shoe adopts for them. They aren't wearing the shoes! The shoes are wearing them! This sh!t pisses me off.
 
#17
Last Place Jason wrote:He

Last Place Jason said:
He fails to even consider that the foundation of the modern running shoe (and the supposed science behind it) may have been flawed from the beginning.
Click to expand...

I think thats the stem of this enitre convoluted mess. Leave it to shoe companies to fix something that isnt broke. You dont need a scientific study to prove people had been doing fine without EVA under thier feet for thousands of years. Problem is as time goes on it is becoming artificially the norm (not exacty natural though) since people now have grown up wearing nothing but cushioned shoes (like myself).

When he said people choose to run with a heel strike, that its the preferred way is total BS. Most probably didnt even know they had a choice. I never did, my high school coach never mentioned (or I didnt pay attention) about heel striking or forefoot landing, and I never even heard of barefoot running unitl recently, and to be honest it was a big hurdle just to try it worrying about what other people might think (make fun of me, etc). So there are a lot of factors here that arent even running form related.

Jason, cool new avatar ;-)
 
#19
That just plain hurt to

That just plain hurt to watch. We have an entire generation, or, more accurately, generations, of Podiotrists that were taught wrong information.

Podiotrist: You have flat feet, you need arch support...

Me (2 years ago): You are correct. I have had flat feet my entire lifetime. Hook me up with orthotics...

Me (now): My arches are flat because the musculature of my feet is so atrophied that it collapsed.

Lo and behold, my flat feet are now semi-arched and my running style has cured (prevented?) all my previous ails (shin splints, PF, etc...).

So, to cut to the chase, the medical profession has been taught incorrectly over the past, what, 100 years?

I'll agree, it aint for everyone - Poor circulatory system, disease, yada, yada, yada. But for the average Joe or Jane suffering with running issues or foot pain, it just may be the cure.

Watching that made me want to throw a brick at my monitor...
 
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