Now a group of researchers in Harvard University have carried out a series of tests to compare running with shoes and comparing it to barefoot running.
Most people who run in shoes strike the ground with their heel first. They found that this resulted in a sudden shock as the foot landed.
When people are running barefoot, they tend to land on the forefoot, the foot rolls forward and there is less impact.
Needless to say, if you are interested in trying some barefoot running, it probably makes sense to try it on a soft surface like grass and to run short distances like 1 to 2 miles to see how it feels.
There is a link to a video on the Guardian website.
3 comments:
Nice post. Just a note - Avoid grass as a hard surface is the best to try Barefoot running on. it's a stable flat surface that provides excellent ground feed back and allows you to focus on technique.
Also, 1 - 2 miles will be too much if you've never run BF before. 5 minutes tops would be recommended.
From experience... watch out for stones the size of fists :-(
Otherwise, I'm a fan and have trained and run races in barefoot runners (five finger shoes).
Believe it or not, but barefoot running, in particular Five Fingers, is starting to gather interest here in South Africa too. I bought myself a pair about a year ago, and while I haven't run any serious distance in them (my VFF's), they are seriously comfortable to run in. But yes, as ElmerM said, watch out for those big rocks. They hurt!! The Five Fingers protect your soles from the 'sharp' but not from the 'hard'. I really need to start phasing them back into my running. But AFTER my next marathon, which is my big one for the year, a month from now.
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