Is Barefoot Running The Ideal Way?

People have been walking, jogging, and flat out sprinting for hundreds
of thousands of years. Those things we strap on our bare feet, on the
other hand, have only been around for a few thousand years. If wasn't
even until relatively recently that high tech shoes with advanced
designs were made available to the general public. If you are curious
about the latest craze in barefoot running, then this article is for
you.



Most people held to the belief that it was obviously better to run with
shoes. That is until Abebe Bikila won the 1960 Olympic marathon without
any. That's the way he trained, and that's the way he ran. It posed the
question: Could running without any shoes actually be better than
running with shoes? Are shoes an extra thing that we really don't need?



By studying how people run, scientists have discovered that people run
differently with and without shoes. Not the same person, mind you.
Somebody who has run barefoot for quite a while will have a completely
different gait than somebody who is used to running with shoes. The shoe
runner generally lands on the heel first, and the rolls over to the
ball of their foot.



People who are accustomed to running barefoot, on the other hand, tend
to land first on the ball of their feet, and then quickly come down with
their heel. The time between the ball of the foot striking the ground,
and the heel landing is enough time for the calf muscle to absorb nearly
all of the shock. With the calf muscle absorbing most of the impact,
there's no need for expensive running shoes that need to be replaced
every six months.



The two main drawbacks to running barefoot are both related to time.
Since changing the way you run takes considerable time and concentrated
effort, it can be a while before your running as far and as fast as you
are with your running shoes. It also takes time to develop the necessary
calluses in order to protect you from sharp pointy things you may come
across on the ground.



Those that have made the switch, from shoes to no shoes claim a mountain
of benefits. Less injuries, much less money spent on shoes, a general
feeling of running the way the body was actually designed to run. Which
way is better for you? Shoes or no shoes?



If you are committed to running barefoot for the long term, and don't
mind 'starting over' again by changing up your running style for the
long run, then you'd most likely benefit from making the change. If, on
the other hand, you run occasionally, and can't be bothered to build up
your calluses or change your running style, then sticking to shoes is
probably the best option.