LA Marathon
Barefoot Running is a new form of training that dates back to the beginning of Human History. We didn’t start out wearing protective covers on our feet and the evolution of walking and running has only in recent history included the use of shoes to cover our feet.
Shoes provide many benefits in terms of comfort and safety, but we pay a price in the how they affect the development of muscles in the foot, leg, and back. There are well known correlations to poor posture, back pain, and damage to the foot support structures from poorly designed running shoes.
Len Kravitz, PhD and Christopher Pauls have written an in depth article on the subject of bare foot training where they outline 10 important steps to starting a barefoot training program. They also cover important benefits associated with the barefoot running such as:
1. Barefoot Training Increases Running Economy. An increase in running economy allows the exerciser to do more work with less metabolic demand of the body.
2. Barefoot Running Is Less Fatiguing Than Running in Shoes. Barefoot running leads to lower energy consumption.
3. Barefoot Training Increases Sensory Input. It is hypothesized that with barefoot training the exerciser will more accurately perceive the actual impact forces of the activity, potentially reducing the injury risk.
4. Barefoot Training Can Be Injury Protective. For various barefoot sports–such as martial arts, beach volleyball, diving and board sports (e.g., surfing, windsurfing, kite surfing, body boarding)–have low risk for lower-extremity injury.
5. Barefoot Training Increases Lower-Leg Strength. Hart and Smith (2008) propose that one of the overlooked benefits of barefoot training is the increase in musculoskeletal power and strength in the foot and ankle.
We recommend reading the full article located at:
http://www.ideafit.com/fitness-library/barefoot-running
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I have been reading up on barefoot running for a while. From what I’ve gathered, because running barefoot uses different muscles, you have to slowly get into running this way to adjust yourself to it.
That is a pretty enlightening find! I’m always been so conscious about running barefoot, with the dirty pavements and whatnot. Or it’s probably because we are so desenthesized and informed about all things concerning germs and bacteria, that it would be such a brave act to walk, even run barefoot! But this is pretty much inspiring, I might just attempt it one of these days.
I’ve just started running barefoot. “Traditional” running has always been very painful for me so I thought I’d give barefoot a shot. I’ve been having a blast pain free!