A Review of the Newton Motus Running Shoes
Newton is a relatively new company who’s shoes are designed to enhance and encourage the natural motion of forefoot running. The Newton Motus is a shoe that is aimed at runners who pronate, as a medial support post offers support and pronation control throughout forefoot strike to toe-off. When combined with the “Land-Lever-Lift” running technique, Newton shoes aim to promote forward propulsion whilst at the same time encouraging optimal natural running form. When this efficient style of running is combined with the forefoot cushioning that is built into every shoe, the Newton Motus shoes offer protection against impact related injury as well as high performance and has previously resulted in the line picking up a Runners Network award for best new shoe.
Newton Motus Running Shoe
Never having run in a shoe that has been specifically designed to encourage efficient forefoot running, I was very keen to try thes shoes out for myself. Mike over at Newton Running UK was kind enough to provide a pair of Newton Motus shoes for review and I have been able to put them through their paces over the past few weeks.
Without going too much into the technology behind the shoes, there are a couple of main differences between the Newton Motus shoes and conventional support running shoes that have a huge impact on the way that you run.
The Motus has rubbery extrusions on the front section of the sole (lugs) which act to catch your foot as if hits the ground. These extrusions means that you strike and push off from the ground from the forefoot and spreads the impact equally across the whole foot instead of just the heel. This mimics the way in which your foot would function if you weren’t wearing shoes at all and is a much more natural way of running.
Newton Motus Unique Forefoot Lugs For a Fast Takeoff
Thee Motus also has a reduced heel profile to discourage heel striking and encourage forefoot running. By encouraging the runner to get up on their toes so to speak, the shoe works the lower leg harder then conventional running shoes but encourages a much faster foot movement and results in much less scope for bone jarring impact.
Moving from a conventional running shoe to a more natural running shoe was always going to be a bit weird but I was pleasantly surprised as to how easy I found the transition. I have never been a “plodder” but I wouldn’t say that I am not a particularly heavy heel striker either so I was expecting the move to the Motus to cause some limited discomfort as I adapted to the new style of running. Newton place a handy card in every shoe box which gives you ’10 laws to running better” and details how you should try to run to maximize the benefits of your new shoes. Some of these rules are fairly obvious things such as ensuring that you have the correct fit, but there are one or two rules that detail how to practice the “Land-Lever-Lift” style of running and are worth their weight in gold. This style of running is essentially fore foot running and involves you striking the ground with your foot under your hips in an athletic position. The key is not to heel strike and then claw at the floor with your toes as this creates a breaking motion and friction which sends shocks into your joints and tendons whilst slowing you down. With forefoot running you need to concentrate on levering off the ground using those rubbery extrusions that I mentioned earlier (lugs) that are centered under the balls of your feet as this is much faster, efficient and natural way of running.
I followed these “10 rules of better running” during the first few days that I tested the shoes and started to knock up runs of a few miles at a time. Luckily this texting period coincided with a recovery week after an IronMan triathlon that I entered so I didn’t feel any need whatsoever to increase my distances on these short runs. After the first run I felt some minor discomfort in my calves as throughout the run It felt like I was over extending my calves. This was only a minor ache and didn’t re-appear again after the second run.
When you first put the Newton Motus shoes onto your feet, the first thing that you notice is how light and breezy they feel. Unlike conventional running shoes, the Motus shoes don’t have the thick heel or midsole section that other shoes rely on to protect their wearers from the impacts caused by heel striking. The large areas od mesh that cover the shoe also add to its airy feel and make the shoe a pleasure to wear.
When you first start to run in the Motus the rubbery extrusions on the ball of the shoe feel very strange and can take a bit of getting used to. When walking around in the shoes these extrusions make the shoes feel slightly unstable, but when you are running at full pelt, you can feel them catching your foot and then propelling you forward during toe off.
Wearing the Newton Motus running shoes I was worried that the arch support that is build into the shoes wouldn’t be enough to offer a high level of support during training from such as lightweight shoe. After a few runs however you forget about arch support and concentrate on how strange it feels to be running in a pair of training shoes that are so lightweight, flexible and airy.
No Newton Motus review would be complete unless I told you where you can pick up a pair for yourself. The B2P online store in the UK offers specialist advice and support on all things Newton and I believe that the best place to source a pair of Newton running shoes from in the US is from the Newton US online store.
