Ever since the book Born To Run came out there have been several news articles posted about this new (throw back to being old) craze of barefoot running. The idea is simple, back in the day when humans were hunters and gatherers not only were we more keen with our running capabilities chasing (or fleeing) out in the wild, we had to do it like the rest of the animal kingdom – barefoot. For those of us who are not quite ready to toss the kicks (I’m not sure if I ever will be) there are several shoe companies have even come out with barefoot running simulation type of shoes.

So what’s the big deal, you ask? The reason that so many people support the barefoot running movement is the belief that running barefoot forces you to do a “natural” or “neutral” gait (forefoot strike versus heel strike). I had a gait analysis done a few months ago (where you run on a treadmill and someone video tapes and then analyzes how your foot strikes on the ground and your foot turn over) and the the guy who ran the booth at the expo told me that I had the “most  pronounced” forefoot strike he had ever seen.

Any neutral forefoot striking runner like myself would likely be just as cold shouldered about barefoot running (maybe). Think of it this way, running is a sport that has *always* been the same. There is no technology to it, so we are always reinventing the wheel on what’s new with running. Why barefoot run when you can instead keep your feet clean and practice better running posture and train yourself to do the correct foot strike. That’s just my own opinion though.

Here are some additional resources for the barefoot curious:

New York Times

Time

US News

Video: Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman has ditched his trainers and started running barefoot. His research shows that barefoot runners, who tend to land on their fore-foot, generate less impact shock.