A Little About Barefooting
While being completely barefoot is great, it may not always be feasible or appropriate. Going barefoot can also include minimalist footwear like Vibram FiveFingers, Vivo Barefoots, or even five dollar aqua socks from Wal-Mart. Basically anything with a thin, flexible sole and very little to no padding or arch support works for our purposes. Not only is being barefoot fun, but it’s also beneficial while working out, and can improve form while eliminating pain while running.
It's Fun!
When you were a child, do you remember running around lush, green lawns, wriggling your toes in the grass? Do you remember being outside during a rainstorm and jumping in puddles with nothing on your feet? When was the last time you were on a beach and really appreciated how good it felt to clench your toes in the sand and feel the billions of grains sift through them? Have you ever walked through the supermarket and wondered what the cold linoleum tiles felt like? How about when you’re waiting for the subway and standing on the platform edge – what would those hundreds of little bumps feel like on your bare feet? Maybe they could be a free foot massage instead of just a warning strip.
The world around us is full of myriad surfaces, just waiting to be experienced by the thousands of nerves found in each foot. But instead of allowing ourselves to indulge the senses in a freshly mowed lawn, or even the plush carpet in our homes, we encase our feet in a prison of thick foam and rubber, dulling the textures of the world beneath our feet. Free your feet and enjoy the world! Start off slow by just walking around your house without slippers or socks, and work your way to moving around your lawn and sidewalk, and before you know it you’ll be going on barefoot nature hikes! (Note: going barefoot does not make you a hippy.)
The world around us is full of myriad surfaces, just waiting to be experienced by the thousands of nerves found in each foot. But instead of allowing ourselves to indulge the senses in a freshly mowed lawn, or even the plush carpet in our homes, we encase our feet in a prison of thick foam and rubber, dulling the textures of the world beneath our feet. Free your feet and enjoy the world! Start off slow by just walking around your house without slippers or socks, and work your way to moving around your lawn and sidewalk, and before you know it you’ll be going on barefoot nature hikes! (Note: going barefoot does not make you a hippy.)
Working Out Barefoot
Besides just being fun, there are many advantages to exercising without your Nikes or Asics. Working out barefoot enables all of the muscles through an individual’s entire kinetic chain to work together in functional movements along three planes of motion (frontal, sagittal, and transverse), thereby challenging the exerciser’s whole body. The more you work to stabilize from your legs on up through your torso, the harder your core has to work to keep your body aligned, thus providing you with a more intense and efficient workout. Exercise movements will feel more fluid and controlled over time, owing to your improved balance. Being deeply engaged and better connected to the movements reduces jarring and flailing, which eases pressure on joints and the skeletal system as a whole.
Weight bearing exercises aside, doing plyometrics (jump training) is more beneficial without cushy sneakers as it actually reduces impact on the joints upon landing. Plyos are an important training method for athletes, as they increase explosiveness, but they're also beneficial to the average person because they dynamically improve coordination and balance.
Try this simple experiment: from a squat position, bend deep and then explode up as high as you can while wearing your sneakers, and pay attention how you land. Do you land with your legs mostly straight? Do you hear a thud? Now take off your shoes and socks and repeat the experiment, once again paying attention to how you land. Do you land with bent knees to reduce the impact and naturally bend back down into the squat position? Do you land on the balls of your feet instead of your heels? Do you hear nearly as much noise, or are you pretty much silent? Now think about which was the softer landing: with sneakers, or without?
The two biggest detriments to modern cross trainers, running shoes, etc. are the raised heel and compressible soles, which shift your center of gravity forward. This deactivates the posterior chain (the glutes and hamstrings) and places more impact on the knees and quads. This, in turn, alters the kinetic chain even further up the body by deactivating the anterior core (abs, obliques) and placing undue emphasis on the lower back. In sum, this all makes you weaker and more prone to injury. Similarly, a compressible sole acts as a shock absorber, thereby deactivating the calves - your body’s natural shock absorbers. Not only will sneakers increase the risk of injury over the long run, they will cause inefficient technique, ultimately causing you to generate less force. Doing box jumps barefoot or in minimalist footwear may feel strange at first, but will allow your body to more naturally execute both the jump and the landings without destroying your knees in the process. (Adapted from www.barefootconcepts.com.)
Weight bearing exercises aside, doing plyometrics (jump training) is more beneficial without cushy sneakers as it actually reduces impact on the joints upon landing. Plyos are an important training method for athletes, as they increase explosiveness, but they're also beneficial to the average person because they dynamically improve coordination and balance.
Try this simple experiment: from a squat position, bend deep and then explode up as high as you can while wearing your sneakers, and pay attention how you land. Do you land with your legs mostly straight? Do you hear a thud? Now take off your shoes and socks and repeat the experiment, once again paying attention to how you land. Do you land with bent knees to reduce the impact and naturally bend back down into the squat position? Do you land on the balls of your feet instead of your heels? Do you hear nearly as much noise, or are you pretty much silent? Now think about which was the softer landing: with sneakers, or without?
The two biggest detriments to modern cross trainers, running shoes, etc. are the raised heel and compressible soles, which shift your center of gravity forward. This deactivates the posterior chain (the glutes and hamstrings) and places more impact on the knees and quads. This, in turn, alters the kinetic chain even further up the body by deactivating the anterior core (abs, obliques) and placing undue emphasis on the lower back. In sum, this all makes you weaker and more prone to injury. Similarly, a compressible sole acts as a shock absorber, thereby deactivating the calves - your body’s natural shock absorbers. Not only will sneakers increase the risk of injury over the long run, they will cause inefficient technique, ultimately causing you to generate less force. Doing box jumps barefoot or in minimalist footwear may feel strange at first, but will allow your body to more naturally execute both the jump and the landings without destroying your knees in the process. (Adapted from www.barefootconcepts.com.)
Barefoot Running
Shoes vs. Barefoot
More than ever before, the growing interest in barefoot running has provided the running community with both more scientific and anecdotal evidence in support of shucking off your shoes.
The human body developed over thousands of years, and only in the last few hundred were shoes introduced. The formation of the foot and leg is very competent at absorbing the force of landing and then transferring the energy of the descent into forward motion, through the coiling act of the foot’s natural curve. By adding cushioned heels to running shoes, people become capable of landing on the heel, thus shifting the body’s center of gravity behind the foot. The angle of this landing propels the impact up via the heel to the knees and hips. Nobody feels this impact in the heel due to all the cushioning, but joints feel the repetitive shock after the run is over. Barefoot running forces runners off their heels, leading to landing the ball of the foot (BOF) with their center of gravity aligned under the hips. Try running without sneakers on your heels and see how far you get.
Stripping off the shoes while running strengthens the muscles and connective tissue of the foot and lower leg because they are doing the work of shock dissipation and support instead. By feeling the ground, runners get instant feedback on form, allowing for microcorrections from step-to-step. By running in a more upright manner with a neutral spine, as opposed to leaning back or leaning forward from the waist to compensate for the alignment, the lower back is saved and stays in a natural position and doesn’t feel the shock of landing.
Besides the biomechanical benefits of running barefoot, running barefoot is just more fun! Feeling the changing surfaces keeps the mind active during the run, and each ascent and descent has to be approached with thought, as your gait changes to shorter strides and the lean starting at your ankles either increases or decreases. While most people see running as an active activity for just the body, running barefoot engages both the mind and body, enhancing the overall enjoyment of the exercise.
There are many detractors against barefoot running, as well as curious people scared to make the switch, who cite reasons against taking off their $150 Nike Air Max’s. Skeptics agree our ancestors may have run barefoot hundreds of years ago, but there wasn’t pavement back then, just dirt paths. Barefoot running requires the practice of running lightly on the balls of your feet, eliminating the need for pounding pavement. I actually prefer running on pavement because the ground does not absorb the shock like it would running on dirt, allowing my legs to transfer the stored energy, or ground reaction force, into the next step. Blisters are your body’s way to inform you your technique is off – fix your style, stop the blisters. Skeptics say there are glass, animal poo, and other harmful substances lurking in the ground. People were born with eyes, so 90% of those things can be avoided by paying attention and running actively. As far as the other 10% of the time, hopefully your hardened soles can prevent the glass from cutting through too deep. Running pain-free for me is the main reason why I choose to ignore that 10% risk of misfortune, but running in minimalist shoes nearly eliminates any risk at all. Some runners fear they will be judged by others for being barefoot, but like the soles of the feet you learn to develop a thick skin to issues like that.
On a personal level, running in my Vibram FiveFingers has allowed me to run pain free for distances I never though I could achieve. After two surgeries resulting from a torn ACL due to a sport injury, I wasn’t able to run without my knee swelling up and having to ice it immediately after. Running without at least three days rest was out of the question, and my dream of eventually finishing the New York City Marathon was not possible. After discovering the benefits of barefoot running combined with Pose running techniques, I was able to finish the NYC Half Marathon in July of 2009 - pain free! My goal for 2010 is to complete all five half marathons in each borough of New York City, and to run the full marathon either in 2010 or 2011.
There are many links on the subject of barefoot running, and I encourage you to check them out for a more detailed view on the matter. While barefoot running may seem like a panacea to ending pain, there are still plenty of methods and techniques you can learn to make the transition much easier. Ask about the Barefoot Running Clinic to learn more!
The human body developed over thousands of years, and only in the last few hundred were shoes introduced. The formation of the foot and leg is very competent at absorbing the force of landing and then transferring the energy of the descent into forward motion, through the coiling act of the foot’s natural curve. By adding cushioned heels to running shoes, people become capable of landing on the heel, thus shifting the body’s center of gravity behind the foot. The angle of this landing propels the impact up via the heel to the knees and hips. Nobody feels this impact in the heel due to all the cushioning, but joints feel the repetitive shock after the run is over. Barefoot running forces runners off their heels, leading to landing the ball of the foot (BOF) with their center of gravity aligned under the hips. Try running without sneakers on your heels and see how far you get.
Stripping off the shoes while running strengthens the muscles and connective tissue of the foot and lower leg because they are doing the work of shock dissipation and support instead. By feeling the ground, runners get instant feedback on form, allowing for microcorrections from step-to-step. By running in a more upright manner with a neutral spine, as opposed to leaning back or leaning forward from the waist to compensate for the alignment, the lower back is saved and stays in a natural position and doesn’t feel the shock of landing.
Besides the biomechanical benefits of running barefoot, running barefoot is just more fun! Feeling the changing surfaces keeps the mind active during the run, and each ascent and descent has to be approached with thought, as your gait changes to shorter strides and the lean starting at your ankles either increases or decreases. While most people see running as an active activity for just the body, running barefoot engages both the mind and body, enhancing the overall enjoyment of the exercise.
There are many detractors against barefoot running, as well as curious people scared to make the switch, who cite reasons against taking off their $150 Nike Air Max’s. Skeptics agree our ancestors may have run barefoot hundreds of years ago, but there wasn’t pavement back then, just dirt paths. Barefoot running requires the practice of running lightly on the balls of your feet, eliminating the need for pounding pavement. I actually prefer running on pavement because the ground does not absorb the shock like it would running on dirt, allowing my legs to transfer the stored energy, or ground reaction force, into the next step. Blisters are your body’s way to inform you your technique is off – fix your style, stop the blisters. Skeptics say there are glass, animal poo, and other harmful substances lurking in the ground. People were born with eyes, so 90% of those things can be avoided by paying attention and running actively. As far as the other 10% of the time, hopefully your hardened soles can prevent the glass from cutting through too deep. Running pain-free for me is the main reason why I choose to ignore that 10% risk of misfortune, but running in minimalist shoes nearly eliminates any risk at all. Some runners fear they will be judged by others for being barefoot, but like the soles of the feet you learn to develop a thick skin to issues like that.
On a personal level, running in my Vibram FiveFingers has allowed me to run pain free for distances I never though I could achieve. After two surgeries resulting from a torn ACL due to a sport injury, I wasn’t able to run without my knee swelling up and having to ice it immediately after. Running without at least three days rest was out of the question, and my dream of eventually finishing the New York City Marathon was not possible. After discovering the benefits of barefoot running combined with Pose running techniques, I was able to finish the NYC Half Marathon in July of 2009 - pain free! My goal for 2010 is to complete all five half marathons in each borough of New York City, and to run the full marathon either in 2010 or 2011.
There are many links on the subject of barefoot running, and I encourage you to check them out for a more detailed view on the matter. While barefoot running may seem like a panacea to ending pain, there are still plenty of methods and techniques you can learn to make the transition much easier. Ask about the Barefoot Running Clinic to learn more!
