Among all the modern fitness conventional wisdom and habit which has been debunked over the past decade – led by Crossfit founder, trainer Greg Glassman, and his novel approach of actually seeing what works before telling his clients to do it – easily the most disheartening is that you’ve probably been screwing up your body before you even leave the house, and you’ve been spending a crapload of money to do it.
If you run regularly and stay abreast of the latest in the sport – or if you read the New York Times Book Review, which for the first time ever has brought some truth to this world (sigh…) — you’re likely aware of the “barefoot” or “minimalist” running movement. To get you up to speed if you aren’t: it’s exactly what it sounds like.
While it inherently presents as yet another “holistic,” “spiritual,” “wellness,” “politically correct narcissist” fad, it isn’t. Evidence — solid, objective evidence, not the “consensus” kind — and common sense are piling up in support of the minimalist shoe movement: cushioned, corrective running shoes have turned running into one of the world’s most predictably injurious activities by creating a biomechanically degenerative stride. They also cost a lot.
Here’s a good link to start with. Once you’re through, peruse anything you can find online about Dr. Nicholas Romanov and POSE running, and take a look at Christopher McDougal’s (NYT bestseller) Born To Run.
Here’s the basic technique (which actually doesn’t need to be taught, as by taking your shoes off and running you will automatically make the necessary corrections. It’s simply too painful to continue running improperly):
- Take off your shoes.
- Run in place. You will notice that you are landing on the balls of your feet, and not your heels. Because that would hurt.
- Now … wait for it! … lean forward.
What is it about cushy shoes that messes all of this up? It’s the strike point of your foot with the ground. Barefoot, you land on your forefoot. With cushy shoes, you come down on your heel. What’s the problem? Consider — how long have humans been:
a) Running with a forefoot strike?
Since approximately 200,000 B.C, late Pleistocene, when “Anatomically Modern Humans” originated in Africa:
b) Running with a heel strike?
Since 1972:
1972 saw the release of the Nike Cortez, the company’s first running shoe. For the first time, runners had a shoe designed with significant cushioning underneath the heel, a development that most athletic shoes you’ve encountered over your lifetime have continued with. Here’s the Cortez:
This shoe cushioned the severe discomfort of running with a heel strike, which — when barefoot — sends approximately three times your bodyweight of force into your heel and up to your knee. Runners lengthened their stride and went with the heel strike, because they didn’t have to worry about landing softly anymore.
Categories: Health and Fitness
I’m glad that people are enthused about exercise and healthy lifestyle, but this article is not going to make me change my shoes. While there have been a few studies done on barefoot and shoe use, what is out there for evidence is far from debunking the benefits of shoe use; there needs to be much more research and even trials done before the word debunked can be used. I run in cheap shoes that are on sale; right now that’s a pair of $20, heavy and over cushioned Fila. The only time I have ever been injured by what I was wearing on my feet were from running in combat boots, and that was due to my frame and lifestyle–caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol are not good for your bones. My problem was solved with calcium supplement and certain leg stretches. In fact, I would suggest that all lean framed people, that run regularly but dont live like athletes, look in to taking calcium, especially women. That said, I have been asking around about more information on barefoot running, and do plan on giving it a feel; however, it’s going to be barefoot on a treadmill and a short run in socks on blacktop (my normal running surface). I have gotten positive response regarding Nike Free for long distance running.
“… the New York Times Book Review, which for the first time ever has brought some truth to this world….”
Who said that?
David Steinberg.
David Steinberg?!?!
No, not that David Steinberg.
So who?
Just some guy.
Oh.
Learned POSE running and took it slowly adjusting to my Vibrams over a period of time. Have since covered a half marathon distance. Knee problems have disappeared. I’m sure my Physiotherapist misses me.
Lieberman at Harvard is a proponent of barefoot running:
http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/
I was wondering about running in Keens sandals. They have little cushioning but are comfortable and very sturdy.
Keens rock.
I skip rope in them.
Yes, I land on the balls of my feet.
Eh. I switched running shoes to the Nike Free in January and by the end of the month was diagnosed with a torn meniscus. I can’t fully say that the switch was the cause, but the lack of structure in the shoe probably exascerbated an existing condition.
My wife and I deal with injury rehabilitation and functional sports performance, she in Pilates training and I in manual therapy.
Not to say you’re wrong, but a meniscus tear can often be cumulative, the result of repetitive stress or aging. If you had a specific injury while running in the new shoes, that could be causative. It would have involved a sudden twisting of the knee joint, where the femur goes one way and the tibia another.
Also, you may have needed to correct your stride mechanics for the new shoe. In this case, your old motor patterns would have set you up to ‘fight’ with the new show design, resulting in injury.
Finally, one example is anecdotal and not valid scientific conclusion. This doesn’t provide comfort when you’re hurting, I know.
I posit that it is incumbent to make this transition consciously. Pay attention to how the new stride feels, and prepare to change your stride from what you were used to. Generally, light warm-up stretches for the calves and hamstrings are indicated, followed by more serious stretching after completing your run. However, there are physiological conditions that preclude stretching, so make sure you’re checked out by a qualified medical professional beforehand, especially if running used to hurt and you’re trying it again. (E,g, They may find you have a meniscus tear that hasn’t become symptomatic yet! Our amazing body has the ability to adapt to a certain point and keep going, before pain messages start grabbing our attention.)
I’ve had two knee surgeries and thought I would never run again when my expensive running shoes failed to stop the shock and pain. I’ve been wearing the Vibram Bikilas for short runs (I’m just getting back into it) and have experienced no knee pain as a result of the adjusted stride… though muscles long un-used in other parts of my legs are filing torture charges against me.
They’re ugly as sin, but I love ‘em.
And they work.
Forget vibrams – make yourself some moccasins.
That’s all we need – minimal thorn and rock protection.
I am inclined to agree with the evolution argument for minimalist running. One point that is missed, however, is that we were evolved to run on grassland. A runner in good shape could probably handle a change in gait while training on concrete, but until you are in good condition, I would suggest running only on surfaces soft enough to leave tracks.
Excellent point. I shudder to consider what repetitive impact would do to our metatarsals from pounding them on miles of concrete. We generally recommend running off-road, irregardless of footwear. Morton’s neuroma comes to mind.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mortons-neuroma/DS00468
On the other hand, more research would be helpful. But as a research assistant in college, I found that projects, and their conclusions, generally followed the money. If the major shoe companies are willing to change, then more research should be forthcoming.
Exactly, road running is totally neglected in this article. Pavement takes its toll. So does body weight. The reality is that distance runners who used ultra thin shoes in the 60s and before were themselves ultra thin. I’m a “retro” guy when running on a modern track (I wear Puma Californias — replicas of 70s basketball shoes) and like to wear simple shoes on trails. But concrete is not natural and must be dealt with unnaturally.
Indeed! I don’t like to run on concrete even in well-cushioned shoes. I can feel a huge difference between concrete and any other surface. Even asphalt is much softer.
I suspect if everyone stopped running on concrete, we’d see a corresponding drop in injuries.
Cross training is good. Jumping rope, bicycling, running, yoga, push ups, walking, hiking. Stretching, in my opinion, in terms of right before and after exercise, is not only over rated, but dangerous. Stretching away from exercising is the thing, for me.
Never took a calcium supplement, had the highest bone density ever measured at the clinic I had a scan done. I always drink lots of milk and for my whole life.
Climbed lots of volcanoes, hiked the Inca Trail, jungle, jogged, never had an injury, not once. One time I saw the Indonesian guys who shouldered packs for tourists up volcanoes, not for me, wore flip flops. I’ve bicycled like crazy in my life, really aggressive and fast, charging up hills type of biking. Pressing oneself in exercise is something one works up to, especially if one is forced indoors during the winter. Take it easy, when you’re ready, go to town.
Injuries tend to happen from over doing the same thing. Resting between exercises is so important to me. That’s when muscles rest and grow and get tough. Everyday training for me is strictly out. 3, 4 days a week. Some people get addicted to every day and when they get injured don’t know how to stop. Exercise is not a drug analogue – it’s for fun and to get fit and feel fit. Don’t over do it and you’ll be strong and happy. Once again, never had an injury, walked 15-20 miles a day for a week in the deepest Guatemalan jungle. Walked entirely around Batur Volcano down in that caldera in Bali, 3/4 of it in a single day.
Never once in my life have I had to stop and rest for the day when hiking, especially on relatively flat ground – the sun always went down before I did. Press your self a little at a time. A bike is the greatest thing because you can press yourself and rest as needed, the body really responds to that and when doing that and skipping rope, you learn to do a slight skill when exhausted.
Stretching, in my opinion, in terms of right before and after exercise, is not only over rated, but dangerous. Stretching away from exercising is the thing, for me.
Dittos to that too.
Interesting, when I use shoes with minimal or no cushioning I develop plantar fasciitis.
I would rather be able to be ambulatory than culturally correct.
What’s up next, a defense of earth shoes?
See my response to #5 Pedro above. Assuming you got a medical diagnosis: Is it possible that you tried to modify the new shoe to your existing stride? You may have had adapted your gait mechanics to the old shoes to the point that your motor control system is unable to adapt to the new show.
It’s also possible that you developed a compensation pattern involving tight plantar muscles (e.g. flexor digitorum brevis, flexor hallucis brevis) and that your old shoe protected you from symptoms. Now that you’re required to run more naturally, the pain level increased.
Anyway, these are possibilities for consideration.
Culturally correct? Please take a look at my author page here, that’s at least one thing I don’t think I can ever be reasonably accused of.
I was being a bit flippant with the culturally correct remark and it wasn’t aimed in particular at you the author.
My observation is that everyone of my acquaintance who tells me that I would be so much better off running barefoot also tells me that I should be eating bean sprouts, “E-coli?, why thank you!” or not clubbing baby seals for fun and profit.
After a while you become numb to the message because of the messenger’s baggage.
I can’t say that I won’t reconsider in the future, but then I’ve never been an early adopter either.
I stumbled across a simple cure for plantar facilitis you should try. I had a terrible case of P F so bad I could barely walk and was limping badly. I happened to put the bottom of my bad foot on the jet in a hot tub and massaged it for five or six minutes. Next day it was completely cured. A few weeks later I had a second attack. This time it took two sessions over two days to cure it. Give it a try.
I wore Earth Shoes back in the 70s when they were first popular. Not a good thing for a teenager. My knees haven’t been the same since.
Conventional running shoes tend to have heels higher than the ball of the foot.
The newer shoes with “minimal or no cushioning” do not.
This tends to stretch the plantar fascia more. Or, rather, it tends to stretch the plantar fascia more normally.
You may need to do some stretching of your plantar fascia. Even if you continue to wear cushioned shoes, such stretching will be good.
When I was active duty and having to do the unit runs and PT running, I used to get all kinds of dire warnings (none of which ever came true) about how I was gonna do dreadful things to my knees and ankles and joints by running in $10 Keds, but it was all that I could afford. I see I might have been wise before the fact in insisting on my cheapie, thin-soled Keds.
You reminded me of something. One of our unit’s top runners years ago used to basically wear thin sandals on PT runs. I used to want to make fun of him, but I had no leg to stand on when I couldn’t keep up with him.
I coached high school Cross Country and the Distance Runners on the Track & Field team for 20 years in Southern California. The most injury free years for my athletes were when I introduced bare foot running once a week in the local soccer park. They also did all of their range of motion drills and plyometrics barefoot each day. My athletes all learned proper bio-mechanics as a result of this (easier than the old way I used). The icing on the cake was when a female athlete came back to visit me during a break and told me she was having shin and knee problems. I asked her about her running and she said her coach made her switch to the heel strike form. I will admit that for the first time I interfered with another coaches instructions and told her to go back to the “ball of the foot strike” she was taught by me. He dad later told me her leg problems went away and her performances improved significantly. I also practice barefoot running and do all my drills barefoot daily. I have been injury free for over 20 years now as a result.
I’m a podiatrist. The information in this article is incorrect. The ankle joint is not a major shock absorber. The subtalar joint is designed to adapt to ground reactive forces during gait and absorb shock. running on the ball of your foot is OK for short distances. In terms of long distances running on the ball of your foot is asking for trouble. I have seen many runners with minimalist shoes with metatarsal stress fractures, neuromas and capsulitis. The reason there are so many knee injuries associated with running is because since 1972 there has been an explosion in people running for excercise, it is not the fault of the shoe.
It could also be related to people thinking they can just buy some shoes and go running. Without proper preparatory conditioning, any activity can be an injury waiting to happen. If they start out with compensated mechanics, inefficient patterns will only magnify with greater stresses from exercise, leading to a greater tendency for injury.
Without more in-depth research, causative issues of shoe versus mechanics aren’t so clear cut.
By the way, the ankle is indeed a major shock absorber. When you have powerful muscles controlling concentric and eccentric movement, like you do in the calf and ankle, you get a natural shock absorber. When the subtalar joint compresses, you are talking about perhaps a millimeter of movement, compared to the much wider range of the ankle’s dorsiflexion/plantarflexion.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Subtalar_Joint.PNG
Finally, you concluded “it’s not the fault of the shoe.” I agree. Yet you appear to say it’s the fault of the ‘minimalist’ shoe in many of the cases you’ve seen. Could you explain this?
I think he might be saying that wearing minimalist shoes does not prevent injuries not that it causes injuries.
Steve: “I have seen many runners with minimalist shoes with metatarsal stress fractures, neuromas and capsulitis.”
Implies causation.
I ran thousands of miles in the military. My knees were in severe pain as I got older no matter how hard I worked the legs in the gym and stretched religiously. I got into Muay Thai about 4 years before retiring and nearly all my running now is done barefoot on mats. My knees feel a whole lot better. I’m not saying that’s a scientific study, but its worked for me.
Combat boots are some of the worst things you can put on your feet.
Well, Corcorans excepted.
When I used to run, some 20-30 years ago, it never mattered what I wore on my feet. Never. Combat boots. Tennies. Sports trainers. No difference. None. That’s because I never relied on the shoe to do the work of my feet and legs. I did not make much noise when I ran, even in combat boots.
If you just let your feet flop down just any old which way, I imagine you will get injuries. It will also make you tired. I never ran more than 10k, but I did not end up breathing hard, nor even sweating much. Running is supposed to be a natural thing, just floating along.
To understand this, go up a flight of stairs. Do you stomp your way up like most folks? They do it that way to get the lift. They stomp down to overcome the inertia. Terrible way to do it. One should never make nose going up steps. Pad of the foot near the edge of the step. The heel sinks down then the body responds by lifting up. Natural.
The same thing with running. Focus on making almost no noise, and the running will be smooth and easy. Breathing easier, sweating less, enjoying more. Floating along. After awhile, once you are in the zone, you can make long floating strides and seem almost to be flying.
It’s not the shoe. It’s the runner.
You are the first person I’ve ever encountered who “gets it” on this subject.
Favorite passage from Back To The Future III: Doc Brown tells the guys in the bar in the future will run for fun. Derisive laughter ensues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eblai2gis1c
Can’t agree more.
How curious. In the early 1980s I got into jogging, but not seriously. (I much preferred cycling.) But the running shoes I was using (Etonics) seemed to lend themselves to what seemed to me a more natural stride – on the balls of my feet. I’d go a bit without my heels touching the ground. Oh, to be in that shape again!
The ankle joint can absorb shock with running but it’s main function is to act as a rigid lever with the achilles tendon and flexor tendons as well as hamstrings to propel the body forward. The STJ is more involved in shock absorption with both running and walking as well as adapting to uneven ground. People can run on minimalist shoes, my advice as a podiatrist is to proceed with caution and with proper training.
P F Flyers, run faster, jump higher
You’ve just dated yourself.
Red Ball Jets.
All of this barefoot stuff may turn out to be correct to one degree or another, but all of it does make incorrect assumptions about what is “natural” and evolution “developing” man to run/walk without foot coverings.
These people need to go back and revisit the theory of evolution. Evolution describes interactions of animals and how some animals successfully breed to the next generation. The quote, “survival of the fittest” has always been a misquote. What it really is is, “survival of the fit”, that is fit enough to breed into the next generation…no more, no less. This does not, in any way, require any animal trait to be finely developed and optimized, simply good enough to breed. The assumption that men and women walking and running as near barefoot as practical will leverage the “natural”, “developed by evolution” characteristics of our physical structure is wishful thinking at best.
That said, I started wearing Merrill trail barefoot walking shoes and generally wear them over any other choice. I find my feet getting sore and tired less. I don’t run and I don’t really hike, just walk around. This is also purely anecdotal information that should not be taken to prove one single thing, other than I find them comfortable.
Am I the only one who sees this whole issue as a make works project for lawyers amd their coming class action suit?
I’ve tried the “barefoot” shoes shown in the picture, but wasn’t impressed with them. What I do love are my Newtons. They also force you to run on the balls of your feet, but provide much better cushion and protection for your feet, while still being very lightweight. A triathlete put me on to them years ago and they changed my life. Running actually became fun instead of the painful slog it had been for me before. Check out their website, I think it does a better job than this article at explaining the difference between heel-strike running and forefoot running and why the latter might be better for you:
http://www.newtonrunning.com/
Article is fodder for lawyers who are not interested in cause and effect but only how much money they can extract from a company on a class action. The only running they do is to the bank with money that will be passed on the consumer in the form of higher prices of all shoes. They will hire a long string of PhD Sports Medicine types and Knuckle Draggers who are prepared to prostitute themselves for fees to testify.
While I prefer running in my Mercury Milan, I think that barefoot running on concrete and glass has to be counter-productive. By the way, 100 years ago,Finns and Scandinavians were famous for running on their heels. Does anyone know why? Mexican Indians were famous 100 mile runners. Does anyone know how they did it?
… and that’s why I play ice hockey.
I wish my Photoshop-Fu was better.
I would so put a set of those Vibrams on top of a blade and then convince people it was a real product.
Adidas Country kept me running for years. Minimal padding, leather, close fitting and tough enough for any cross country or woodland run. Also, having a minimal tread and no bobbles, they quite nicely doubled for snag free cycle clip use on my bike.
I then bought some Oregon’s which in comparison seemed sloppy, over spongy and in the end I developed such shin and ankle pain I gave up for quite a while.
On resuming I got a pair of very basic New Balance which worked fine. My view is that fit is key. Buy them a tad tight, wear thin socks and they actually adapt to your foot shape.
Now, many years later I stick to cycling. The emergence of the mountain bike makes it fun, a bit like a pedal powered suv and pretty much puncture proof on urban roads.
A note apart: notice how cultural and philosophical thinking evolves. Now the word “minimalist” is the new fashion. It is cool these days to be “minimalist.” Then today’s children will grow up and think that us “minimalists” are so 2010′s.
Since approximately 200,000 B.C, late Pleistocene, when “Anatomically Modern Humans” originated in Africa:
Uh horse manure. Stop spouting evolutionist lies please.
About a month ago, we had this exact conversation in my martial arts (a barefoot sport) class. What’s also ironic is that my autistic daughter runs this way (on her toes, barefoot), but walking and running on tiptoes is considered maladaptive and a hallmark of autism. Go figure.
My podiatrist is not a big fan of these new-fangled shoes but I may try my Tai Chi shoes on the treadmill. Similar to the old-school Keds (but much cheaper).
I started doing CrossFit a few years ago. The website has several vidoes showing the proper form for running along with several other videos. Greg Glassman has created a phenominal workout program with basic equipment–pull-up bars, free weights etc. The workouts kick your butt in about 20 minutes. He knows of what he says.
One thing I would like to add is that in my life I’ve noticed that Americans tend to overdo exercise, plunge right in because they want the benefit without enjoying what it is they’re doing.
I think that’s why more casual training where your fitness level itself allows you to do a thing rather than forcing it is better. To do that you usually have to concentrate on enjoying what it is you’re doing rather than being goal oriented. Fitness will come if it’s fun, injuries if it’s not; it’s not a job.
Jump rope to music and bicycle for fun. When bicycling, your fitness level will lead to impatience and that’s a sign you’re ready to move on; impatience led by your brain rather than your fitness level is bad. As you move forward you’ll eventually become a fit animal. Forcing it is bad. Above all, listen to your body because it will tell you exactly what’s going on.
I agree that injuries are caused by the runner and not footwear. Barefoot running to me is problematic because of the lack of arch support. Just because people ran around veldts thousands of years ago doesn’t mean it was just fine for the feet. Plus they ran on uneven ground rather than a flat surface which exacerbates pounding and exact repetition.
well, apparently humans/humanoids have been walking and running upright for 3.7 million years
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-07/novel-new-analysis-ancient-footprints-suggest-early-man-walked-upright-2-million-years-earlier-we-though
and only using nikes for 40 years.
from personal experience it is difficult to switch to a barefoot/minimalist shoe. once your muscles and ligaments are used to padded shoes it is painful to retrain them. you have to learn to run all over again.
However, kids should go barefoot as much as possible. This will allow them to develop proper arch support – in their own feet. Then they will be to use minimal shoes or no shoes with no problems.
if you have young children who have not been in shoes for long, watch when they run, they run on the balls of their feet, not their heels.
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