Barefoot Running
I recently finished a great book called “Born To Run” by Christopher McDougall. In his book, Mcdougall travels to the Copper Canyons of Mexico to learn from the Tarahumara Indians of South America, a culture of champion endurance athletes. The Tarahumara idea of a good time involves running anywhere from 24 to 48 hours at a time and covering up to 100 miles in a single sitting. In his book, Mcdougall explores another mostly unheard of running phenomenon, barefoot running. Members of this school of thought believe that running barefoot is the most natural and enjoyable way to run. They also think that rather than helping runners avoid injuries, wearing running shoes increases the chance of damage to our bodies.
Although it might seem far fetched, the barefoot runners have significant scientific evidence to back their claims. A compelling case for barefoot running has been made by Daniel E. Lieberman, a Harvard professor of biology who, along with other Harvard scientists, has performed numerous studies on how shoes affect a runners gait. Their findings are well illustrated in this short youtube video documentary. The gist of the barefoot runners thesis is further incapsulated by the aptly named Amby Burfoot of RunnersWorld, who explains: “When you run barefoot, your body precisely engages your vision, your brain, the soles of your feet, and all the muscles, bones, tendons, and supporting structures of your feet and legs.” The proprioceptive response Burfoot refers to is hampered by running shoes, which substantially affects the way people run, changing them from primarily fore and midfoot strikers to the more jarring heel striker.This dramatic, and sometimes traumatic change to a persons gait can be seen here.
With the backing of reputable scientists like Dr. Lieberman, the shoe industry has started taking notice of barefoot running and have posed themselves the question “how can we make money out of people who want to run barefoot?” You can see their first attempts at an answer with shoes like the Nike free and Vibram fivefingers, which curiously have you paying as much, if not more for literally less shoe! The jury is still out on these minimalist shoe offerings.
Even if running barefoot does carry all the benefits it’s advocates proclaim, the stress on muscles of the foot, ankle and leg are substantially different from those “shod” runners are accustomed to. Therefore, the body would probably benefit from having time to adjust from running with shoes to running bare. If interested in giving it a try, I would suggest a structured progression plan. This might include a transition stage, in which you perform a short barefoot run as compliment to your regular running regime, then incrementally add more barefoot running as your body adjusts.
If we put aside personal opinion and bias, the barefoot running movement has a whole lot of common sense and some decent research to back it. I see barefoot running progressing from an oddity to a respected niche market in the very near future.
If you’ve ever tried it, or plan to, let us know in the comments.
Ralph Griffiths
Reader Comments (4)
As a side note, I would recommend "Born to run" as reading material for anyone interested in running, or fitness in general. My wife recently finished the book, stating "it makes me want to run longer and eat more salad." Both traits to be encouraged, for sure.
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