I met someone today that I will likely be seeing a lot more of in the future. He has had major spinal surgery and repair in the L1 to L5 area in his past. I remember him saying that the gel they used to reinforce the spine is deteriorating and thus he was no longer able to run for exercise.
I was asking him if he ever tried natural running, and he said he hadn't heard anything about it. I showed him how the gait does not put much stress on the skeletal structure. He indicated interest, but also some healthy skepticism, but far less than shod scoffers.... perhaps because he really would like to find a way to run again.
I was indicating that done correctly, it can and does put less stress on the joints than walking.
Sorry for not being more knowledgable about his injuries, but I thought if there was someone who liked to run in the past that would be able to benefit from natural running, it would be this fellow.
Am I right to recommend or reopen this topic with him? I know he ought to clear this with his doctor as well, but not sure how open the doc is to alternative running styles like ours. Part of me wants to say give it a shot, but the other part says perhaps finding a less stressful form of exercise might be better long term and I thus ought to hold my tongue. Won't be seeing him again until Friday. I told him to look up videos of Ken Bob and others to give him something to look up in the mean time.
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
John T.
I was asking him if he ever tried natural running, and he said he hadn't heard anything about it. I showed him how the gait does not put much stress on the skeletal structure. He indicated interest, but also some healthy skepticism, but far less than shod scoffers.... perhaps because he really would like to find a way to run again.
I was indicating that done correctly, it can and does put less stress on the joints than walking.
Sorry for not being more knowledgable about his injuries, but I thought if there was someone who liked to run in the past that would be able to benefit from natural running, it would be this fellow.
Am I right to recommend or reopen this topic with him? I know he ought to clear this with his doctor as well, but not sure how open the doc is to alternative running styles like ours. Part of me wants to say give it a shot, but the other part says perhaps finding a less stressful form of exercise might be better long term and I thus ought to hold my tongue. Won't be seeing him again until Friday. I told him to look up videos of Ken Bob and others to give him something to look up in the mean time.
Any advice would be very much appreciated.
John T.