On my high school cross country team, every week when we practiced at the park, we would run barefoot. It was not that one day we just forgot our shoes or that we decided we did not want to wear them anymore, we ran barefoot because our coach told us to. While the cool grass did feel good beneath our feet, and our legs felt a lot lighter and moved faster without shoes on, the reason behind this decision was that running barefoot is actually good for your running form/technique. Running barefoot helps prevent injuries, build leg strength, and ensure proper form (by landing mid-sole, rather than landing on the heels, reducing the impact on certain areas), and distributing pressure over a greater area.
Only recently have companies began to pick up on the benefits of running barefoot and have attempted to create a shoe that would emulate running barefoot. Examples of the new minimalist footwear include the Nike Free, Newton All-Weather Trainer and Vibram FiveFingers.
So I end this post by asking: Do you own any minimalist shoes to simulate “running/walking barefoot” or do you just run barefoot?
I tried running barefoot on the turf field at UP. Our strength coach made the whole basketball team do this because he also says it's good for you. One thing I noticed was how sore my feet were after that day, I was sore in muscles in my foot in places that I didn't even know I had muscles.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting. I heard that it is actually better for you but what about arch support?
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