Are We Built to Run Barefoot? (Article)
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muth3rluvx2
Posts: 1,156 Member
A friend of mine sent this to me and I copied and pasted it. I hope this is useful for some folks. I'm not a runner (although I've tried a few times) so I can't vouch for anything. I'm just sharing.
June 8, 2011, 12:01 am New York Times
Are We Built to Run Barefoot?
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
At a recent symposium of the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting in Denver, cutely titled “Barefoot Running: So Easy, a Caveman Did It!,” a standing-room-only crowd waited expectantly as a slide flashed up posing this question: Does barefoot running increase or decrease skeletal injury risk?
“The answer,” said Dr. Stuart J. Warden, an associate professor of physical therapy at Indiana University, “is that it probably does both.”
Related
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• Faster, Higher, Stronger
• Fitness and Nutrition News
Barefoot running remains as popular and contentious a topic among exercise scientists as it is among athletes, even though it is practiced by only a tiny subset of American runners. These early-adopter runners, however, tend to be disproportionately enthusiastic and evangelical. Many cite the best seller “Born to Run,” by Christopher McDougall, which touts barefoot running, and claim that barefoot running cured them of various running-related injuries and will do so for their fellow athletes. “There are people who are convinced that barefoot runners never get injured,” said Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard who runs barefoot himself and spoke on the topic during last week’s symposium.
But in the past year, anecdotal evidence has mounted that some runners, after kicking off their shoes, have wound up hobbled by newly acquired injuries. These maladies, instead of being prevented by barefoot running, seem to have been induced by it.
So what really happens to a modern runner when he or she trains without shoes or in the lightweight, amusingly named “barefoot running shoes” that are designed to mimic the experience of running with naked feet? That question, although pressing, cannot, as the newest science makes clear, easily be answered.
Most of us, after all, grew up wearing shoes. Shoes alter how we move. An interesting review article published this year in The Journal of Foot and Ankle Research found that if you put young children in shoes, their steps become longer than when they are barefoot, and they land with more force on their heels.
Similarly, when Dr. Lieberman traveled recently to Kenya for a study published last year in Nature, he found that Kenyan schoolchildren who lived in the city and habitually wore shoes ran differently from those who lived in the country and were almost always barefoot. Asked to run over a force platform that measured how their feet struck the ground, a majority of the urban youngsters landed on their heels and generated significant ground reaction forces or, in layman’s terms, pounding. The barefoot runners typically landed closer to the front of their feet and lightly, without generating as much apparent force.
Based on such findings, it would seem as if running barefoot should certainly be better for the body, because less pounding should mean less wear and tear. But there are problems with that theory. The first is that the body stubbornly clings to what it knows. Just taking off your shoes does not mean you’ll immediately attain proper barefoot running form, Dr. Lieberman told me. Many newbie barefoot runners continue to stride as if they were in shoes, landing heavily on their heels.
The result can be an uptick in the forces moving through the leg, Dr. Warren pointed out, since you’re creating as much force with each stride as before, but no longer have the cushioning of the shoe to help dissipate it. Most barefoot runners eventually adjust their stride, he and the other presenters agreed, landing closer to the front of their feet — since landing hard on a bare heel hurts — but in the interim, he said, “barefoot running might increase injury risk.”
Even when a barefoot runner has developed what would seem to be ideal form, the force generated may be unfamiliar to the body and potentially injurious, as another study presented at last week’s conference suggests. For the study, conducted at the Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, runners strode across a force plate, deliberately landing either on the forefoot or on the heel. When heel striking, the volunteers generated the expected thudding ground reaction forces; when they landed near the front of the foot, the force was still there, though it generally had a lower frequency, or hertz.
Earlier research has shown that high-frequency forces tend to move up the body through a person’s bones. Lower-frequency forces typically move through muscles and soft tissue. So shifting to a forefoot running style, as people do when running barefoot, may lessen your risk for a stress fracture, and up your chances of developing a muscle strain or tendinitis.
So where does all of this new science leave the runner who’s been considering whether to ditch the shoes? The “evidence is not concrete for or against barefoot or shod running,” said Allison H. Gruber, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts and lead author of the hertz study. “If one is not experiencing any injuries, it is probably best to not change what you’re doing.”
On the other hand, if you do have a history of running-related injuries or simply want to see what it feels like to run as most humans have over the millenniums, then “start slowly,” said Dr. Lieberman. Remove your shoes for the last mile of your usual run and ease into barefoot running over a period of weeks, he suggests, and take care to scan the pavement or wear barefoot running shoes or inexpensive moccasins to prevent lacerations.
And pay attention to form. “Don’t overstride,” he said. Your stride should be shorter when you are running barefoot than when you are in shoes. “Don’t lean forward. Land lightly.”
On this point, he and all of the scientists agree. Humans may have been built to run barefoot, “but we did not evolve to run barefoot with bad form.”
June 8, 2011, 12:01 am New York Times
Are We Built to Run Barefoot?
By GRETCHEN REYNOLDS
At a recent symposium of the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual meeting in Denver, cutely titled “Barefoot Running: So Easy, a Caveman Did It!,” a standing-room-only crowd waited expectantly as a slide flashed up posing this question: Does barefoot running increase or decrease skeletal injury risk?
“The answer,” said Dr. Stuart J. Warden, an associate professor of physical therapy at Indiana University, “is that it probably does both.”
Related
• More Phys Ed columns
• Faster, Higher, Stronger
• Fitness and Nutrition News
Barefoot running remains as popular and contentious a topic among exercise scientists as it is among athletes, even though it is practiced by only a tiny subset of American runners. These early-adopter runners, however, tend to be disproportionately enthusiastic and evangelical. Many cite the best seller “Born to Run,” by Christopher McDougall, which touts barefoot running, and claim that barefoot running cured them of various running-related injuries and will do so for their fellow athletes. “There are people who are convinced that barefoot runners never get injured,” said Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard who runs barefoot himself and spoke on the topic during last week’s symposium.
But in the past year, anecdotal evidence has mounted that some runners, after kicking off their shoes, have wound up hobbled by newly acquired injuries. These maladies, instead of being prevented by barefoot running, seem to have been induced by it.
So what really happens to a modern runner when he or she trains without shoes or in the lightweight, amusingly named “barefoot running shoes” that are designed to mimic the experience of running with naked feet? That question, although pressing, cannot, as the newest science makes clear, easily be answered.
Most of us, after all, grew up wearing shoes. Shoes alter how we move. An interesting review article published this year in The Journal of Foot and Ankle Research found that if you put young children in shoes, their steps become longer than when they are barefoot, and they land with more force on their heels.
Similarly, when Dr. Lieberman traveled recently to Kenya for a study published last year in Nature, he found that Kenyan schoolchildren who lived in the city and habitually wore shoes ran differently from those who lived in the country and were almost always barefoot. Asked to run over a force platform that measured how their feet struck the ground, a majority of the urban youngsters landed on their heels and generated significant ground reaction forces or, in layman’s terms, pounding. The barefoot runners typically landed closer to the front of their feet and lightly, without generating as much apparent force.
Based on such findings, it would seem as if running barefoot should certainly be better for the body, because less pounding should mean less wear and tear. But there are problems with that theory. The first is that the body stubbornly clings to what it knows. Just taking off your shoes does not mean you’ll immediately attain proper barefoot running form, Dr. Lieberman told me. Many newbie barefoot runners continue to stride as if they were in shoes, landing heavily on their heels.
The result can be an uptick in the forces moving through the leg, Dr. Warren pointed out, since you’re creating as much force with each stride as before, but no longer have the cushioning of the shoe to help dissipate it. Most barefoot runners eventually adjust their stride, he and the other presenters agreed, landing closer to the front of their feet — since landing hard on a bare heel hurts — but in the interim, he said, “barefoot running might increase injury risk.”
Even when a barefoot runner has developed what would seem to be ideal form, the force generated may be unfamiliar to the body and potentially injurious, as another study presented at last week’s conference suggests. For the study, conducted at the Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts, runners strode across a force plate, deliberately landing either on the forefoot or on the heel. When heel striking, the volunteers generated the expected thudding ground reaction forces; when they landed near the front of the foot, the force was still there, though it generally had a lower frequency, or hertz.
Earlier research has shown that high-frequency forces tend to move up the body through a person’s bones. Lower-frequency forces typically move through muscles and soft tissue. So shifting to a forefoot running style, as people do when running barefoot, may lessen your risk for a stress fracture, and up your chances of developing a muscle strain or tendinitis.
So where does all of this new science leave the runner who’s been considering whether to ditch the shoes? The “evidence is not concrete for or against barefoot or shod running,” said Allison H. Gruber, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts and lead author of the hertz study. “If one is not experiencing any injuries, it is probably best to not change what you’re doing.”
On the other hand, if you do have a history of running-related injuries or simply want to see what it feels like to run as most humans have over the millenniums, then “start slowly,” said Dr. Lieberman. Remove your shoes for the last mile of your usual run and ease into barefoot running over a period of weeks, he suggests, and take care to scan the pavement or wear barefoot running shoes or inexpensive moccasins to prevent lacerations.
And pay attention to form. “Don’t overstride,” he said. Your stride should be shorter when you are running barefoot than when you are in shoes. “Don’t lean forward. Land lightly.”
On this point, he and all of the scientists agree. Humans may have been built to run barefoot, “but we did not evolve to run barefoot with bad form.”
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Replies
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I also recommend reading the best seller - Born to Run! Very inspirational book on the topic.0
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I also recommend reading the best seller - Born to Run! Very inspirational book on the topic.
Great book! I Personally am not a fan of BF running, but that is just me.0 -
I'm no runner but I always feel better running barefoot. I feel stiff and akward running in shoes, running around the yard with my son and such I feel like I could go forever..0
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If you're running truly barefoot then *something* will probably prevent you from doing too much too soon - whether it's a blister, sore calves from landing too much on your toes, heel and shin pain from landing on your heels...etc.
These so-called "barefoot shoes" are actually the worst of both worlds. They muffle the feedback you get from the ground, so you may not notice the warning signs of running with bad form. But they also don't have any cushioning or arch support or pronation control, so they can't protect against any of the effects of bad form like conventional running shoes.
I think anyone interested in barefoot running should start with small amounts of walking, completely barefoot, on a hard and level surface. You'll quickly learn how to adjust your form so that it doesn't hurt - that's the right form to use with these minimalist shoes. Even after you learn the right form it's good to add mileage very slowly, starting with walking, and then walking mixed with small amounts of slow jogging, just like a brand new runner should. Barefoot running is completely different from running in sneakers and it's best to treat it like learning a completely new sport.0 -
As long as I'm on soft grass I would much prefer to run barefoot. That said when I used to go jogging every night it was on gravel roads...so yeah...HAD to wear shoes.
During the summer months I walk around barefoot a lot. Pretty much anywhere that I can go barefoot I will. At my friend's farm I am barefoot all the time even if I'm walking on gravel.
I always workout barefoot as well. I HATE working out with shoes on. I hate it so much. lol0 -
When I did a minimarathon earlier in the year, I saw a guy wearing those barefoot running shoe things and I thought, is he crazy?!? 13.1 miles wearing practically no shoes? lol But now I'm actually thinking about looking into them! Very interesting article! Thanks for posting!0
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If you're running truly barefoot then *something* will probably prevent you from doing too much too soon - whether it's a blister, sore calves from a landing too much on your toes, heel pain from landing on your heels...etc.
These so-called "barefoot shoes" are actually the worst of both worlds, I think. They muffle the feedback you get from the ground, so you may not notice the warning signs of running with bad form.
But they also don't have any cushioning, so they can't protect against the effects of bad form like conventional running shoes.
This article is supposed to be addressing form. Your comments would suggest that you didn't read the article.0 -
I read it - I was responding to the part where the author says "But in the past year, anecdotal evidence has mounted that some runners, after kicking off their shoes, have wound up hobbled by newly acquired injuries. These maladies, instead of being prevented by barefoot running, seem to have been induced by it."
I think that those new injuries are because people are rushing out to buy those minimalist shoes instead of going truly barefoot. Like I mentioned above, I think minimalist shoes are the worst of both worlds. Going completely barefoot makes it a lot easier to get the right form.0 -
I read it - I was responding to the part where the author says "But in the past year, anecdotal evidence has mounted that some runners, after kicking off their shoes, have wound up hobbled by newly acquired injuries. These maladies, instead of being prevented by barefoot running, seem to have been induced by it."
I think that those new injuries are because people are rushing out to buy those minimalist shoes instead of going truly barefoot. Like I mentioned above, I think minimalist shoes are the worst of both worlds. Going completely barefoot makes it a lot easier to get the right form.
I see.. thank you for clarifying your point. :-)
I've thought about trying to run w/o shoes as I get shin splints very badly and very quickly - which would suggest form; and I've tried modifying my form but just can't quite seem to get it down - but those same fears of foot injury prevent me from that effort. I've considered the shoes, but I think without having the form right, as both you and the article have suggested, it's pointless.0 -
I agree with this advice:
So where does all of this new science leave the runner who’s been considering whether to ditch the shoes? The “evidence is not concrete for or against barefoot or shod running,” said Allison H. Gruber, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts and lead author of the hertz study. “If one is not experiencing any injuries, it is probably best to not change what you’re doing.”
I swapped over because I thought it would solve some of my ITBS problems, but in reality, I ended up with a broken foot and even more problems. It wasn't that I necessarily did it wrong - I took things slow and focused on changing my form - it's that the transition and best gait differs for individuals based upon their physiology and running history. One of major holes in the famous Lieberman Nature paper was that their sample set contained only barefoot runners who grew up running barefoot on unpaved surfaces. The studies are only beginning to be developed to look at to heel-strikers in cushioned shoes who wish to transition and are doing so on unnatural surfaces -- which is leading to rapid increase in barefoot-associated injuries.
For example, I have an extremely weak gluteus medius which lead to my IT band issues, but I have stiff feet - the bone physiology in my foot isn't something I can change with "form" - and therefore my foot loads in fashion that is best supported by shoe that can redistribute the load across a larger surface area. On it's own, I supinate heavily and combined with weak glutes and a immobile heel, the entire impact force redirected to my second metatarsal. When I was landing on my forefoot in uncushioned shoes, this only made the problem significantly worse and led to a stress fracture.
At the end of the day, the general public doesn't have access or can't afford to have a complete gait assessment at sports performance center or work with a coach and physical therapists to optimize their form and physiology to prevent injury. Most runners are able to compensate for small weaknesses, but most often its small factors that add up and lead to overall injury. The biggest mistake is trying to treat the symptoms rather than discovering the root cause. You can buy a new shoe, but at the end of the day, it's more likely to be physiological issue - weak muscles, bone structure, etc. Overuse typically means you have a weakness that is being exacerbated - yes, you're doing too much, but if you cut back, you still aren't addressing the problem, you're just reducing how apparent that problem is.0 -
I agree with this advice:
So where does all of this new science leave the runner who’s been considering whether to ditch the shoes? The “evidence is not concrete for or against barefoot or shod running,” said Allison H. Gruber, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts and lead author of the hertz study. “If one is not experiencing any injuries, it is probably best to not change what you’re doing.”
*** This last statement is probably the most sound advice ***
I swapped over because I thought it would solve some of my ITBS problems, but in reality, I ended up with a broken foot and even more problems. It wasn't that I necessarily did it wrong - I took things slow and focused on changing my form - it's that the transition and best gait differs for individuals based upon their physiology and running history. One of major holes in the famous Lieberman Nature paper was that their sample set contained only barefoot runners who grew up running barefoot on unpaved surfaces. The studies are only beginning to be developed to look at to heel-strikers in cushioned shoes who wish to transition and are doing so on unnatural surfaces -- which is leading to rapid increase in barefoot-associated injuries.
For example, I have an extremely weak gluteus medius which lead to my IT band issues, but I have stiff feet - the bone physiology in my foot isn't something I can change with "form" - and therefore my foot loads in fashion that is best supported by shoe that can redistribute the load across a larger surface area. On it's own, I supinate heavily and combined with weak glutes and a immobile heel, the entire impact force redirected to my second metatarsal. When I was landing on my forefoot in uncushioned shoes, this only made the problem significantly worse and led to a stress fracture.
At the end of the day, the general public doesn't have access or can't afford to have a complete gait assessment at sports performance center or work with a coach and physical therapists to optimize their form and physiology to prevent injury. Most runners are able to compensate for small weaknesses, but most often its small factors that add up and lead to overall injury. The biggest mistake is trying to treat the symptoms rather than discovering the root cause. You can buy a new shoe, but at the end of the day, it's more likely to be physiological issue - weak muscles, bone structure, etc. Overuse typically means you have a weakness that is being exacerbated - yes, you're doing too much, but if you cut back, you still aren't addressing the problem, you're just reducing how apparent that problem is.
Oh my - this is all way over MY head. Could you illucidate, first of all, how you came about such detailed knowledge? That will just help the rest of us get a grasp on your experiences, background and potential resources for others to access.
Stiff feet... hmmm... explain this more? When I've tried to run, it's felt like that but I assumed it's just because I was new at it and out of shape, tight, etc.
And, how much of the foot physiology do you think is influenced by shoes? Perhaps what is natural is being made unnaturally natural... errr.. hopefully you got that.
Looking forward to more information!0 -
I am a big believer that we were meant to run barefoot. And I have take to the "barefoot" (running in vibrams) very nicely. My transition was fairly easy, I believe due to running so much in track spikes and not landing on my heels.
I didn't have any major injuries before and i haven't developed any so far. I really belive barefoot running can be used as a tool to learn a proper stride to help shoed runners stay injury free.
Now do I think anyone & everyone can go out & run barefoot? No. But if I was a parent, I'd be really really encouraging my kids to run around and play barefoot as much as possible so they developed the proper stride early in life.0 -
If you're running truly barefoot then *something* will probably prevent you from doing too much too soon - whether it's a blister, sore calves from landing too much on your toes, heel and shin pain from landing on your heels...etc.
These so-called "barefoot shoes" are actually the worst of both worlds. They muffle the feedback you get from the ground, so you may not notice the warning signs of running with bad form. But they also don't have any cushioning or arch support or pronation control, so they can't protect against any of the effects of bad form like conventional running shoes.
I think anyone interested in barefoot running should start with small amounts of walking, completely barefoot, on a hard and level surface. You'll quickly learn how to adjust your form so that it doesn't hurt - that's the right form to use with these minimalist shoes. Even after you learn the right form it's good to add mileage very slowly, starting with walking, and then walking mixed with small amounts of slow jogging, just like a brand new runner should. Barefoot running is completely different from running in sneakers and it's best to treat it like learning a completely new sport.
Great advice.0 -
Although I do believe it can be done in the barefoot shoes, it can make it harder due to the reasons the previous poster mentioned.
I love my Vibrams, but when I tried to run completely barefoot, I did notice a further change in my form to compensate. Some of the shoes are close, but nothing is as close to running barefoot, like actually running barefoot.
That being said, I worked on my form significantly in order to get to wearing the barefoot shoes before running long in them. It was a labor of love and it worked for me.0 -
And to the other poster, I do believe that some of our issues are due to physiology, but a great deal more, IMO, are due to 2 things:
1) Ignoring the little strains and pains our body has early. People are so out of tune with their body and feel the need to push through pain when they shouldn't.
2) Overtraining, which is, yet again, not knowing enough about ones body, what it can take and not...
Because, if it's overuse, and you stop, back off, let the injury go away and proceed with a more reasonable fashion, and the injury does not come back, physiology is probably not it.
I'm going to venture a guess that not too many people get THAT thorough of a gait analysis.0
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