爲什麼要傾聽身體對跑鞋的意見 Choosing the Right Running Shoes

Many runners may be wearing the wrong shoes for their particular stride or the right shoes that were chosen for the wrong reasons, according to a new scientific review about running shoes and injury risks.

新近一項關於跑鞋和受傷風險的科學綜述指出，許多跑步者穿着的鞋子並不適合其特有步態，或者，他們雖然穿對了鞋，但選擇這鞋的原因卻完全不對頭。

The study helpfully concludes that there is a reliable, scientifically valid way for each of us to pick the right running shoes, but it’s so simple that most of us ignore it.

該研究幫助我們得出了這樣的結論：我們想要挑選出正確可靠的跑鞋，可以遵循一種科學而有效的方法，只是這個方法太過簡單，以至於我們大多數人都忽視了它。

The connection between running shoes and running injuries is surprisingly controversial and, from a scientific standpoint, unsettled.

跑鞋與跑步損傷之間的關聯出人意料地充滿爭議，科學上對此也尚無定論。

Most of us who run have heard that we should choose our shoes based, for the most part, on two broad technical criteria.

跑步愛好者們大多都聽說過選擇跑鞋大致要根據兩大技術標準。

The first is whether and how much our foot pronates, or rolls inward as we land. Orthopedists, coaches and runners long have believed that over- or under-pronation contributes to the risk of running injuries and should be controlled using particular types of shoes.

第一是當我們足部着地時是否存在翻轉，如果有，程度如何。長期以來，骨科醫生、教練和運動員都認爲，足部外翻（pronation/over-pronation，或稱足踝內旋過度）或內翻（under-pronation，與前者相反）都可能會造成跑步受傷的風險，應使用特定類型的鞋子來加以矯正。

More recently, impact force, or the pounding that we experience with each stride, has also been getting plenty of attention, especially in relation to barefoot running and the question of whether we should wear shoes at all. Some barefoot-running proponents claim that running without shoes or in minimal, slipper-like models somehow changes impacts and substantially reduces the risk for injuries.

近來，我們跑步時受到的衝擊力（即觸地反衝力）也日漸爲人所關注，在涉及赤足跑步以及我們是否就不該穿鞋的問題上尤其如此。一些支持赤足跑步的人聲稱，不穿鞋子或者只穿最簡單的家居鞋會從某種程度上影響觸地反衝力，從而大大降低受傷的風險。

But Benno Nigg, the lead author of the new review, and his colleagues were skeptical. An emeritus professor of kinesiology at the University of Calgary in Canada and one of the world’s foremost experts on biomechanics, Dr. Nigg wondered whether science really supports the idea that the right shoes can alter and fix someone’s running form and lessen injuries.

不過，新近這篇綜述的主要作者本諾·尼格(Benno Nigg)和他的同事們對此持懷疑態度。尼格博士是加拿大卡爾加里大學(University of Calgary)的運動學榮譽退休教授，也是世界上一流的生物力學專家之一，對於合適的鞋可以改變和糾正人的跑步姿勢、減少傷害這種觀點，他很懷疑它是否具有切實的科學依據。

So for the new review, which was published last week in The British Journal of Sports Medicine, Dr. Nigg and his colleagues trolled through decades’ worth of studies about running injuries, shoes and their relationship.

於是，在這篇上週發表在《英國運動醫學雜誌》(The British Journal of Sports Medicine)上的綜述中，尼格博士和他的同事們回顧了近幾十年來關於運動損傷、鞋以及這兩者之間關係的研究。

It soon became clear to the researchers that most of our beliefs about running injuries and shoes are, in fact, myths.

很快，研究人員就發現，我們關於跑步造成的損傷和跑鞋的大部分認識其實都是謬談。

Pronation, for instance, does not seem to be a problem requiring correction. In the one large-scale experiment studying pronation, almost 1,000 novice runners, some of whom pronated and some of whom did not, were given the same running shoes and followed for a year.

例如，足外翻似乎並不是一個需要矯正的問題。在一項研究足外翻的大型試驗中，研究人員發給近1000名跑步新手（其中部分人存在足外翻）同樣款式的跑鞋，並對他們進行了爲期一年的隨訪。

At the end of that time, many of the runners with normal feet and form — who did not overpronate — had become injured, but a much smaller percentage of those who overpronated had been sidelined.

在隨訪期結束時，許多腳形和姿勢均正常的跑步者都受傷了，而足外翻的跑步者中受傷的百分比則小得多。

Dr. Nigg and his colleagues write in their review that this finding suggests “that a pronated foot position is, if anything, an advantage with respect to running injuries.”

尼格博士和他的同事們在這篇綜述中寫道，這一研究結果表明：“如果非要說足外翻對跑步造成的損傷有任何影響的話，可以說這種姿勢反而不容易令人受傷。”

Similarly, they found little evidence that forcefully striking the ground causes injuries or that changing or removing your shoes alters those impacts much anyway.

同樣，他們還發現幾乎沒有證據支持跑步時足部用力撞擊地面會引起傷害，換鞋或者脫掉鞋子可以改變觸地反衝力等說法。

Perhaps most unexpected, running shoes designed to somehow “fix” someone’s running form turned out often to be ineffective and even counter-productive. In a series of studies, when military recruits were assigned running shoes meant to control their particular level of pronation, those soldiers were as likely, or even more so, to sustain running-related injuries than soldiers given shoes at random.

也許最令人意外的是，專爲“矯正”人的跑姿而設計的特殊跑鞋非但往往無效，甚至還會適得其反。在一系列研究中，一部分新兵領到可對他們各自特定的足外翻水平加以控制和糾正的跑鞋，其他人則是隨機領鞋。研究發現，這兩組新兵受到跑步相關傷害的可能性類似，甚至有時前者還更容易受傷。

But if shoes are chosen for the right reason, they can reduce injuries, Dr. Nigg and his colleagues concluded after parsing all of the relevant studies.

然而，尼格博士和他的同事們分析了所有相關研究後得出的結論是：依據正確的理由來選擇鞋子確實可以減少傷害。

And the right reason does not involve pronation control or impact forces.

而這所謂正確的理由並不包括控制足外翻以及衝擊力。

What matters, the researchers conclude in their review, is comfort. In one study from 2001 (overseen by Dr. Nigg), researchers asked soldiers to try six shoe inserts, which varied in terms of cushioning, arch height, heel shape, thickness and other variables. The soldiers were asked to pick the one insert that felt the most comfortable to them and wear that insert inside their shoes during their subsequent military training. A separate group of soldiers wore standard footwear as controls.

研究人員在綜述中總結道：關鍵的問題在於舒適。在2001年的一項研究中（尼格博士爲其責任作者），研究人員要求士兵們試穿了在減震緩衝、足弓高度、鞋跟形狀、厚度和其他變量等方面不盡相同的六種鞋內託，並要求他們挑選出自己覺得最舒服的一種在隨後的軍事訓練中將其墊在自己的鞋裏。穿着標準鞋的另一組士兵是研究的對照組。

After four months, the soldiers wearing the shoes fitted with inserts that felt comfortable to them had a much lower incidence of injury than those wearing standard shoes.

四個月後，鞋內墊有令他們自己覺得舒服的鞋內託的士兵中的受傷率遠低於只穿着標準鞋的士兵。

This finding makes scientific and common sense, Dr. Nigg said. Our bodies are actually “very good judges” of how each of us should move and run, he said. When we ignore or fight our bodies’ natural movement pattern, he said, such as by trying to control pronation, the risk of injury rises.

尼格博士表示，這一結果既合乎科學又符合常識。他還指出，對於應該如何行動和奔跑，我們自己的身體實際上是“很好的裁判”。當我們忽略或違抗了我們身體的自然運動方式，比如試圖控制足外翻，受傷的風險就會增加。

Instead, he said, we should pay close attention to our body’s opinion about running shoe options.

我們倒是應該密切關注我們的身體對跑鞋的選擇意見。

“Try on four or five pairs,” Dr. Nigg said. Jog around the store or the block in each.

“最好能試穿個四五雙鞋，”尼格博士說，分別穿着每雙鞋在商店或街區裏慢跑上一圈。

“People can usually tell right away which shoe feels the most comfortable,” Dr. Nigg said. “That is the one to choose.”

“人們通常馬上就能分辨出其中哪雙鞋最舒服，”尼格博士說。“那就是理想之選。”