Have You Heard the Latest Trend, Barefoot Running?

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Well it’s not exactly a new thing, people have been running barefoot since the beginning of time, however, the new show, “Dual Survivor”, has really giving it a lot of attention lately. Research has shown this technique has a lot of potentially great benefits, when adopted slowly.

As a kid, I went everywhere barefoot, with the disapproval from my mother, of course. I ran to my friend’s house down the street, played flagged football at the park, and even did gymnastics in the front yard. Who knew, this would become a popular training method?

Studies are showing that there are many advantages to limiting footwear to completely going bare foot.

– Strengthens the muscles in the foot, especially the arch

– Less energy to the forefoot due to the use of natural springs in the calf muscle

– Lowers hip and lower back pain

– Eliminates gait issues (over-pronation, under-pronation)

– Allows natural range of motion

– Shoes cause our tendons and ligaments to shorten, muscles weaken, increasing our risk of foot and ankle injuries

Disadvantages may include:

– Injuries to the sole of the foot due to terrain

– Takes time readapting new habits of using more of the forefoot or mid-foot instead of the heel

– Greater risk of developing Achilles Tendonitis when switching from heel striking to mid-foot striking.

Did you know that there are 52 bones in just the foot? The anatomy of the foot is designed to allow transfer of the weight of the body from the heel to the side of the mid foot. It then quickly moves through the ball of the foot to move the body forward. Our feet have many sensors in them that supply the central nervous system with information regarding our weight distribution. This contributes information that is used during dynamic and functional movements. This information activates which muscles are needed to be used. Some studies say that footwear cuts that information off. Shoes are designed to protect the foot and prevent injuries and provide a neutral foot and ankle during training.

The debate is said that with all this protection we are trying to provide, we could actually be inhibiting the body from doing what it is naturally meant to do, which is move in a natural pattern.

If you wish to adapt this type of training follow these precautions first.

Start slowly. If you don’t know how to swim you wouldn’t dive into the deep end would you? Same goes for barefoot training. Allow your foot to adapt to this new way of training, start by performing a fraction of your training barefoot. Paying special attention to the terrain you will be working on (objects such as glass, thorny brush, etc, should always be a concern).

For strength training programs you could start by performing your warm ups without shoes, move slowly, paying attention to the landing of your foot (beginners should avoid plyometrics type exercises for now).

For a beginning warm up use:

– Leg Swings

– Inchworms

– Bear Crawls

– High Knee Hugs

Then graduate to

– Hops

– High Knees

– Butt Kickers

– Lateral Lunge Jumps

– Carioca

– Two Foot Hops