When training for the marathon, you want to do most of your running on surfaces that will least impact your body.
While some of us have access to trails, grass, or gravel, many of us only have two options: asphalt or concrete.
So which of these two is easier on your legs? Coach Tony explains in today’s Extra Kick!
Audio Transcript
Coach Tony: Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Runners Connect podcast. I hope your day is going well and thanks for tuning in to the show.
Today we have a great question from Caleb in Chicago.
Caleb: I live in Chicago and I run on concrete versus asphalt. Is that bad? Am I going to get hurt? What type of shoes should I wear? Should I drive 30 minutes or so to get to some area where I can run on asphalt or some other softer surface?
Tony: That’s a great question Caleb and I appreciate you offering that up to us. First, concrete is harder than asphalt (being road). There is going to be less absorption of impact on concrete versus asphalt.
As far as whether it hurts you more or less, I’m not sure. There’s a whole lot of studies to kind of be done on that but if you Google that answer, you’re going to get some people saying stay away from concrete while others are going to say it’s not going to bother you whatsoever.
I just gave you my personal experience. I grew up in Boston and not a whole lot of sidewalks to run on. I would always run on the streets and on asphalt. Fast forward, I’ve lived in Colorado for about 10 years now and the roads are a little bit faster, moving cars, and there’s a lot of sidewalks.
I spend a lot of my mileage like 50 miles a week probably on concrete and I have not noticed any difference, so if I use myself as an example, concrete has not impacted me whatsoever versus asphalt.
If you’re running on asphalt and on the road, there is a good chance you’re running the camber or shape of the road which could lead to some injury unless you’re running in the middle of the road or on an asphalt bike path.
It’s hard to say if you could run on a flat concrete, sidewalk, or you can run on the curved section of the asphalt road and because of the way the road curves in a little bit, the road itself could cause you some injury.
I don’t think you can necessarily say one is going to hurt more than the other. A few things I think to consider that can come into play is how you run.
Some people are very hard when they land on the heels and you should land on the heel that’s normal. Where it becomes a problem is when you land on your heel and you just stop.
When you land your heels going to touch to absorb impact, but then you should have a steady motion. Fluid, forward motion.
Some people will land on the heel and almost stop. It’s almost pounding, and you can almost hear them. In that situation, on concrete, it can do some damage and more than asphalt because there’s so much impact and it’s not being absorbed by the surface that you’re running on.
If you’re that type of person, then I think it’s important that you try to work on your gait. Whether it’s concrete or asphalt, you should be trying to work on your gait and not hitting the ground so hard.
The other question Caleb brings up is about shoes. Should he go to like a more cushioned shoe? Unfortunately, you may hear some people say you should go to a more cushioned shoe and that’s scary to hear.
Having owned a run shop for 12 years and fitting people, my biggest pet peeve is the word cushion in a running shoe.
People just associate the word cushion with something that’s better for them. I need more cushion, my knees hurt; I need more cushioning. It is shock absorption.
All shoes essentially have the same level of shock absorption. The word cushion in a shoe is basically a category. This cushion, motion control, and stability. Most people need stability.
A truly cushioned shoe has no support and the reason for that is for people who have high arches which is only about 5% of people. Most people shouldn’t be in a purely cushion shoe, they should have some support.
As far as specific to your question Caleb, should you switch to more of a cushion shoe? That has nothing to do with the surface you’re running on. That is purely your biomechanics.
Every shoe is going to have that same level of shock absorption. Don’t change shoes purely because of surface. If you’re on trails, maybe get a trail shoe or get a shoe a little bit more midsole to it.
The only thing from a shoe design is, if you feel like you want a little bit more shock absorption, you might want to get a shoe that has a little bit more material in there especially if you tend to run more mid-foot and mid-foot strike versus hill strike.
If the shoe has a little bit of cut out, a second hourglass shape, then when you’re landing in that mid-foot you don’t have as much midsole air to absorb some impacts.
From a design standpoint or shoes standpoint, stay with the category of shoe that you need, but stay with a shoe that has a little bit more mid sole material in there.
That way, if you land on that mid-foot, you have a little bit more mid soles to help absorb some impact.
Other than that, I think it’s somewhat of an individual thing and if I have to use myself as a case study, asphalt and concrete, I really haven’t noticed any different knock on wood from an injury standpoint or speed standpoint. Thank you Caleb for your question.
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