Barefoot runners' gait protects them from hard heel-strikes

A Harvard study published in this week's Nature confirms what barefooters have been saying for years: shoes teach you bad walking and running habits, while barefooters have a different gait that protects them from shocks when they run, even without the padding.

I have flat feet and associated back problems, and I've worn orthotic inserts since I was 17. Stick me in shoes without these inserts for 48 hours, and I'm in agony.

Unless I'm wearing a pair of Vibram "barefooting" shoes on holiday, in which case, I'm fine. (Only one data point: remember, the plural of "anecdote" isn't "fact.")

"People who don't wear shoes when they run have an astonishingly different strike," says Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and co-author of a paper appearing this week in the journal Nature. "By landing on the middle or front of the foot, barefoot runners have almost no impact collision, much less than most shod runners generate when they heel-strike. Most people today think barefoot running is dangerous and hurts, but actually you can run barefoot on the world's hardest surfaces without the slightest discomfort and pain. All you need is a few calluses to avoid roughing up the skin of the foot. Further, it might be less injurious than the way some people run in shoes."

Barefoot Running: How Humans Ran Comfortably and Safely Before the Invention of Shoes

(Image: barefoot, a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike image from kisocci's photostream)

Previously:

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

Cory, sorry to nitpick, but you’ve used this line ‘the plural of “anecdote” isn’t “fact”‘ a couple times recently and I have a bit of an issue with it as a scientist. We believe that gravity exists because every time we roll of the bed we knock our head on the floor. We have no other way of knowing anything other than to have observed it and reported it, i.e. an anecdote. The reason why we believe anything to be true in science, or a fact, is that we have tested it a statistically significant number of times and always, within a certain level of measuring accuracy, gotten the same result. Hence a collection of anecdotes if observed correctly with proper controls is exactly what makes what we call a fact.
- Cory Doctorow
  
  No, we know gravity exists because we can move from a anecdote to a falsifiable hypothesis that we can test, publish and subject to peer review. “Everybody knew” about spontaneous generation, haints, and innumerable other anecdote-supported conclusions. It is only the application of systematic study and experimentation that separates folly from truth.
  - Ito Kagehisa
    
    remember, the plural of “anecdote” isn’t “fact.”
    
    Speaking again as a scientist, the plural of anecdote is “data”.
    
    You said: It is only the application of systematic study and experimentation that separates folly from truth.
    
    Truth… when someone tells me they know what the truth is, I reach for my luger. Unless they agree with me, of course!
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah I know what you mean about worrying about all kinds of random debris while attempting to go barefoot running. I tried it and almost destroyed my foot by some random gravel.
  
  So in terms of protection there are 2 suggestions that I have heard great things about. 1) A lot of people have talked highly about vibram fivefingers. They are not the most fashionable shoes (gorilla shoes seems to be the nickname going around), but they do a good job or protecting and at the same time still allowing you to get the benefits of barefoot running. 2) The other shoes worth taking a look at are the Nike Free 5.0′s. They look a lot better and still have some barefoot principals behind them.
  
  This site has a lot of good information in general about barefoot shoes:
  
  http://barefootrunningshoes.org
Ghede

It’s not the hardest surfaces people worry about, It’s the… uneven surfaces. Pebbles, rocks, glass, etc. THAT is what people worry about. That was a pointless assurance.
murray

I had forgotten it, but it’s true. In grade school I was a decent sprinter, and I always ran barefoot. Never thought of it before, but I now remember (sense memory) that my heels hardly seemed to touch the ground during a 100 meter sprint. Especially so when running on grass; you can dig in with your toes for traction.
Anonymous

Two words: Chuck Taylors. At most a third of an inch between foot and walking surface.
ia_

It’s neat that people can run barefoot without injury but there are limits. What about jumping off stuff? Or making sharp turns while running? Shoes aren’t that bad.

What’s next, barefoot skateboarding?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUVE57zRjAE#t=4m10s
http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2009/1106/as_skate_Jamie_576.jpg
http://media.skateboard.com.au/forum/images/ragdoll-blunt1.jpg
Abby

I was a tomboy growing up, and ended up running around barefoot most of the time. Then I discovered the merits of shoes, lost most of my callouses and stopped running around as much. Then, I got a pair of the fivefingers. Oh, man, do I love them. It’s a little weird getting used to being able to feel textures with your feet when you’re walking around somewhere where you are used to wearing normal shoes, but otherwise, my feet and back are far better off. Not a plug, I just really love my barefoot shoes.

Odd though, I’ve never had a problem with uneven or rocky surfaces, because your feet just wrap around the obstacles like they would if you were running around barefoot with really, really thick callouses.
andydub

Michael Franti has gone barefoot for 9 or 10 years:
http://ow.ly/12sE6

Was wondering tonight why his recent hit single wasn’t nominated for grammy.
Marchhare

@murray

If you’re sprinting properly you will be up on your toes.

I’m a distance runner with plantar fasciitis, so barefoot isn’t an option for me.
- Anonymous
  
  i have plantar fasciitis also, and have found myself with almost no heel pain after a summer of barefoot in the house- only plain foam flip flops outside, and trying consciously to correct my over pronation until it felt natural, and moving my feet constantly exercising them, stretching and contracting my arches any time i was sitting down and had my feet up. for the colder season and for when i go back to school and work (it was bad enough i had to take the year off) i plan on buying some plana terra vivo barefoot shoes, some vibram five fingers shoes, and buying some very soft suede and using my mean sewing skills to make some simple soft soled moccasins (water proof outsides with 3m leather spray!!!). good luck, you can beat it, and teaching your feet grow the muscles in the right places to support themselves is the answer, not supportive shoes, which caused the problem in the first place!!! <3
- Anonymous
  
  how does having plantar fasciitis eliminate you from going barefoot? Have you ever thought that you are crippling the natural mechanics of your foot with your shoes? The solution to your plantar fasciitis IS barefoot. Beware, there is a steep learning curve but it is worth it!
  - coding_monkey
    
    When I have had problems with plantar fasciitis it has been related to tight calves not my shoes. Also you don’t need to run barefoot to switch to front or mid-foot striking. Running barefoot forces you to switch your style but you can switch even keeping your shoes on. Switching to front/mid foot strike helps with shin splints as well.
MollyMaguire

Another cool minimalist shoe company is Feelmax. Their Niesa shoe has a nearly impenetrable sole that is only 1 mm thick. As close to going barefoot as you can get with protection from pokey things. That’s what I wear in the winter so that I can add socks as necessary.

Remember, Lieberman’s article most simply quantifies the kinematics of running shod v unshod. It is not an injury study.

To the dubious, you really have to try it. Find a safe place like a soccer field, a well-packed dirt trail, or a well-swept sidewalk and run! Your feet suddenly become part of your body again like your hands, instead of stumpy appendages you wrap in rubber and leather and throw onto the ground with every footfall.
greengestalt

From Tagore’s “My School” lecture:

“Naturally the soles of our feet are so made that they become the best instruments for us to stand upon the earth and to walk with. From the day we commenced to wear shoes we minimized the purpose of our feet. With the lessening of their responsibility they have lost their dignity, and now they lend themselves to be pampered with sock, slippers and shoes of all prices and shapes and misproportions. For us it amounts to a grievance against God for not giving us hooves instead of beautifully sensitive soles.
“I am not for banishing footgear altogether from men’s use. But I have no hesitation in asserting that the soles of children’s feet should not be deprived of their education, provided for them by nature, free of cost. Of all the limbs we have they are the best adapted for intimately knowing the earth by their touch. For the earth has her subtle modulations of contour which she only offers for the kiss of her true lovers-the feet.
“I have again to confess that I was brought up in a respectable household, and my feet from childhood have been carefully saved from all naked contact with the dust. When I try to emulate my boys in walking barefoot, I painfully realize what thickness of ignorance about the earth I carry under my feet. I invariably choose the thorns to tread upon in such a manner as to make the thorns exult. My feet have not the instinct to follow the lines of least resistance. For even the flattest of earth-surfaces has it’s dimples of diminutive hills and dales only discernible by educated feet. I have often wondered at the unreasonable zigzag of footpaths across perfectly plain fields. It becomes all the more perplexing when you consider that a footpath is not made by the caprice of one individual. Unless most of the walkers possessed exactly the same eccentricity such obviously inconvenient passages could not have been made. But the real cause lies in the subtle suggestions coming from the earth to which our feet unconsciously respond. Those for whom such communications have not been cut off can adjust the muscles of their feet with great rapidity at the least indication. Therefore, they can save themselves from the intrusion of thorns, even while treading upon them, and walk barefooted on a gravelly path without the least discomfort. I know that in the practical world shoes will be worn, roads will be metalled, cars will be used. But during their period of education, should children not be given to know that the world is not all drawing-room, that there is such a thing as nature to which their limbs are made beautifully to respond.
- Hanglyman
  
  I think the reason more people don’t go barefoot isn’t so much hard surfaces as it is sharp surfaces. I’m not just talking about debris-strewn city sidewalks, either- the fields around here (Colorado) are full of cacti, burrs, yucca plants and, much of the time, clumps of dry grass with hard broken-off stumps that are capable of stabbing you hard enough to hurt, and maybe even break the skin if you’re walking at a normal pace. Of course, it doesn’t take a whole lot of padding to protect against all that- modern shoes probably are overkill. But anyone who says that naked feet are the best instrument to walk on probably lives on a much more forgiving terrain.
testpattern

I love the Vibram Fivefingers. Absolutely great for running. As for treacherous terrain, well, they offer about as much protection as Chuck Taylors. Also, the Vibram KSO Treks look pretty boss, having an almost shoe-thick sole, but wearers complain about loss of groundfeel.
PixelFish

My fastest time in high school came on the day I forgot my gym clothes AND the gym teacher said we had to improve by a minute on our previous best or we wouldn’t pass. I had a choice of running in flats or barefoot. I ran barefoot and had my best two mile run ever.

Incidentally, I really wanted Vibrams Five Fingers, but when we went to the store, I had a terrible time trying to get them to fit. My pinky toe doesn’t slide into the pinky toe slot. Instead it gets all mashed up against the side. Since I couldn’t see myself taking twenty minutes to get my feet to fit the Five Fingers, I reluctantly decided not to get them. Does anyone have any solutions to this issue?
- japroach
  
  There are lots of options, google barefoot shoes. I went with vivo as they are plain looking and are “light” barefoot.
  
  This guy has some good reviews: http://www.barefootrunner.com/
- Anonymous
  
  I had a problem, too, with my little toe. It only took a few days (at most) of putting them on to get the hang of it. they slip on as easy as any shoe now.
- Anonymous
  
  Buy the Vibrams, they will conform to your feet and you will get used to putting them on very quickly. I tried at the store and had the same problem you mention. Purchased them anyhow, and wore them around the house for the rest of that day. Never once thought about putting them on again, they just slip on correctly after that.
- Anonymous
  
  with time in the VFF your toes will spread out more. I had the same problem but it gets better.
- Anonymous
  
  buy them anyway and persevere … it gets easier and easier to put them on. i had the same problem — it felt like my feet were being squished, and the vibrams were “asking” my toes to spread out more than they were used to. but it does take a while to get used to them — everyone says start slowly, and they’re right!
- Anonymous
  
  I used to have that problem, it goes away after a while. That said they still take longer to put on.
- Anonymous
  
  My trick for putting them on quickly is to sit on a chair, put your foot in with your toes just up to but not in the toes of the shoes, then put your foot on the floor and ‘creep’ your toes forward (like the way inchworms crawl). They always find the right slots for me.
  I have been using Vibram 5 fingers KSO model for a couple of years now, wearing them as much as possible everywhere I go, including on a climb of Mt. Meru in Tanzania, and a 5 day hike on the Lake Superior coastal trail. I have a moderate Morton’s toe and never had a problem with them.
ethicalcannibal

I’d love to get some Vibram’s for my hubby, to see if it helps his gait. However, they don’t come in size 14, it’s like a Hobbit foot but giant.
wierdbeard

I’m wearing the Vibram 5 finger right now. I love them. The only problem I’ve encountered is they aren’t very warm.

I’ve always been a forefoot striker, and my coaches all through school just thought it was strange, but it’s the only way to run that ever felt right to me.
jackie31337

When I was younger, I used to dance a lot, and for everyday wear, I preferred shoes that let my feet move the same way that ballet slippers did. I hated not being able to feel the surfaces I was walking on, so I gravitated toward shoes with a thin, soft, flexible sole.

When my daughter was a baby, I remember reading that baby shoes should be soft-soled and flexible to allow the foot to move as it would barefoot (as opposed to the old line of thinking that baby shoes should be as stiff and supportive as possible).

Lately, I’ve been wearing more traditional shoes, and now that I think about it, I feel like I’m fighting my shoes a lot of the time. Maybe it’s time to try some of these barefoot-style shoes. My only question: what do you wear when there’s 60cm of snow on the ground?
Anonymous

I’m a distance runner who has been dogged by Achilles tendonisis and Plantar Fasciitis. I’ve recently taken to running in Vibrams and barefoot in an attempt to try anything that can relieve the pain. I’m at a point now where I can most definitely notice the tendon pain is abating and I now feel weird running in shoes….they feel way too spongy.

Its working for me but may not be for others. For all those who suffer tendon pain, I hope you find a solution that works for you and keep on running.
Anonymous

I know I’m a bit weird, but I run on my toes, whether I’m wearing (military/hiking) boots or going barefoot; a good pair of boots doesn’t force you to land on your soles even if they aren’t one of those hideously expensive barefoot designs. It always astonishes me when the professionals say that most people run with their heels touching the ground first; it’s just a completely unnatural thing to do as far as I’m concerned, and I’m by no means a professional or a even an amateur runner of any sort, just an avid hiker who has always walked a lot ever since I learned how to. I guess too many people have forgotten how to even walk, never mind running.
Anonymous

I like the five-finger wear, but for those of us with a longer 2nd toe (Morton’s Toe), said “shoes” are not an option – at least this was a year-ago when I checked on them. If this has changed, that would be worth checking out.
Ty_MY

I have an “anecdote”/observation that correlates with this.

Here in tropical Malaysia, I was in a 10K road run event. I was in my Air Max 360s that I hoped would offer maximum cushioning in case of shin splints etc. At the 5K mark, these bunch of skinny 15 year old Indian (from India, not Native American) girls breezed past me.. barefoot.. on the asphalt. It was abt 7:30am, so it was not hot yet. Asphalt is not a smooth surface.

I was amazed that I needed my Air Cushioning technology, while these girls ran even faster than me (not that I’m that fast – but they were definitely going at a good clip, so the stress on the feet is pretty high) on probably nothing more than Callous technology.

Anyway, in Malaysia, in the countryside, a lot of people go barefoot to potter around. But I never seen them run on asphalt before.

Also, during Thaipusam (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaipusam), Malaysian Indians carry super heavy “kavadis” attached to their bodies via hooks.. and stick long pins through their mouths and/or tongues.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Thaipusam8.jpg/180px-Thaipusam8.jpg

Mind over matter?
Amazing what human bodies can do?
Millions of years of evolution trumps technology?
We never realize our limits?

I don’t even know what questions or observations to make, just that I see with my own eyes some amazing things out there, that totally breaks conventional “scientific” ideas.
benher

“…on the world’s hardest surfaces…” which is fine as long as you aren’t talking about city streets strewn with trash, broken bottles, syringes, used condoms, dog-poo, discarded yakuza fingers, etc.

Sometimes, there just isn’t a big enough callus -
I’ll stick with my running shoes.
- Ugly Canuck
  
  Even better in the modern urban environment: lightweight combat boots.
andygates

I’m a big fan of Vibram’s Fivefingers (VFFs). Unlike Chucks, which have that centimeter of dead rubber, VFFs are a minimal skin. The feel is completely different becuase the VFF is ridiculously flexible — I always feel like the guy with the Pirelli feet from that old advert.

Plus the spready toes, which is just exultant and yummy, but I’m sounding like a crazy cultist now.

This spring I’m building – slowly – up from mooching to running in ‘em. The use of the calf as a spring again is something lost to shoe wearing, and you gotta build up really slowly (ooh, ouch, stiff!).
Alejandro A

I know this has no bearing on either the findings of the research or the quality of Vibram’s products (I’ve already ordered a pair two be my own personal guinea pig), but Vibram USA partially funded the reseached (as was footnoted in the linked article).

All things considered, I hope this research will be adopted and looked into further. I also can’t wait for my pair of FiveFingers. I’ve been putting off getting a pair for a long time. Great post! Thanks!
Ugly Canuck

cast off yer shoes
it’s a groovy thing to do
(when it’s warm out….)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUOXgL4rvYk
wilberfan

I’ve been devouring this whole “barefoot” thing for several months now. I’ve been wearing the Vivo Barefoots since reading the You Walk Wrong piece in NY Magazine.

The MOST compelling case, I think, is made in Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. A great read, and if his argument don’t convince you, you’ll never be convinced.
gerg

@ia_ jumping, running, climbing, fighting barefoot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGF-ErsJiI

I’m somebody who has transitioned from wearing running shoes to going barefoot. I like the idea of the vibrams, but for me if I run any kind of distance they tend to give me blisters. They do become much easier to put on the more you use them though, as your toes become more spread out. A common side effect of barefoot running is that your feet actually get a bit bigger.

My favourite running surface is warm smooth hard rock, it feels great under your feet. Th biggest problems when running is gravel, but you learn to slow down, and look at where you are running, and slow down when needed. It’s also a much more interesting experience as you can feel all the different surfaces underfoot.

Roads can also be good to run on, as all the car traffic smooths out the road surface, and moves gravel to the gutter.

Minimal shoes are a great start, but many people who wear them seem to be afraid to take the next step and go completely barefoot.

this year IU’m running a 10k race barefoot for charity with my friend (who’s never run barefoot before), everybody is under the impression it will be harder, I think it will make it easier :)
asuffield

The reason why the plural of “anecdote” is not “fact” is because “fact” is not a plural at all. Sigh.

The phrase you were failing at is: ‘The plural of “anecdote” is not “data”‘
Anonymous

I’d love to go barefoot, but I worry about parasites — especially hookworms/strongyles from running in my horse’s pasture and surrounding countryside. Anywhere I could find data or discussion supporting or rejecting this?
Anonymous

I take issues with the “plural of anecdote is not fact” because the saying is “the plural of anecdote is not *data*.”

“Data” is plural “fact” is not. The saying works much better when the plurality matches. I guess you could say “facts” but that doesn’t seem right.

Also feel free to use the phrase to poke fun at various fields of study, such as “The plural of anecdote is not data, its sociology” (zing).
cisko

I ran quite a bit in the Vibram FiveFingers last summer, so I’ll add my anecdotes to the pile. I like the feel and I had good results with short runs. But as I started pushing past 3 miles in them, my pre-existing knee injury started acting up. My theory is that as my feet and legs tire out, they’re less able to provide the muscular cushioning that I need. So I would conditionally recommend them, but be wary if you’re dealing with cartilage problems.
Jeremiah Blatz

I wonder how many of the running shoe defenders have actually tried running with chucks, Vibram Five Fingers, etc. I’m not a serious runner, but I adapted my running gate to VFFs in about 5 minutes. You would have to be a fool to continue hell-striking without a running shoe. It was actually quite surprising to me how much of a non-issue many of the objections raised above turned out to be:
1) Cornering: not an issue. Your body knows how to do this. Your body was, in fact, *built* to be able to run without shoes. You just corner.
2) Rocks, uneven surfaces, etc: You just shift your weight slightly to take the pressure off the pebble. It’s not even really conscious.
3) Regarding knee pain: Everyone’s injury is a unique and horrible flower. I have had less knee pain w/my VFFs. Not trying to invalidate @cisko’s claim, but my experience was the opposite.

There are some adjustments/temporary downsides to ditching the running shoes. The primary one is that your calves will complain mightily for a week or so. The extra load from landing on your forefoot, plus the extra inch or so of range of motion are a recipe for DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness). High load eccentric movements = DOMS. In other words, a day or two after your first time out, you calves will probably hurt like hell. Start small and *slowly* work up to longer runs. Some folks say that skipping rope barefoot is a good way to pre-train.

So why would you affirmatively *want* to run in thin-soled shoes (or barefoot, if your callus-fu is good)? Besides the evidence of reduced injury rates due to running itself, there are other advantages. Your feet definitely become stronger, which should (according to some articles I’ve read by podiatrists) help you avoid the immobilizing boot is you step off a curb wrong. You’ll also get nicer calves. Finally, and this is entirely subjective, I like to be able to feel what I’m walking/running on. I enjoy the different sensations of gravel vs asphalt vs grass, etc.

So, anyway, before you reject barefoot-style running as dangerous and preposterous, you might want to give it a shot for a couple weeks.
Patrick Austin

Are there any long term studies of barefoot people showing they have fewer knee problems later in life?

I’m seeing a lot of “running barefoot is better because it means less impact on your joints” without a lot of info showing that the impact is actually bad for you.

It’s all well and good to say evolution made us this way, but it’s also important to remember that for most of human evolution we weren’t living much past 20 to 30 years old.
Kevin Kenny

I’m envious.

It snows here. Rather a lot.

I’m surprised that nobody in the thread has mentioned the phenomenon. Are you all Californians?
Anonymous

I’ve been running barefoot for 6 months now and it’s fantastic. The tactile feedback you get when your feet touch the ground makes running so much more enjoyable, you can feel your whole body moving forward in a very different way.
I also use a pair of FiveFingers KSO, and although the experience is not quite the same, I can’t imagine getting back to shoes anymore.
Anonymous

Please note the Vibram provided the primary funding for that study. This story has been posted all over the tubes with little mention of this critical detail.
MrJM

Worth noting: The research was funded by the American School of Prehistoric Research, the Goelet Fund, Harvard University, and Vibram USA.

I ain’t sayin’ — I’m just sayin’.
Anonymous

I work in a running shop selling running shoes. We sell shoes based on people’s gait and most of the time we find that people do need additional support based on what we can see from a video gait analysis.
Running barefoot is the best thing, because it is the most natural thing in the world but the fact is that pavement is not natural at all. The reason people need runnning trainers is because we do not have enough shock absorbtion in out feet/legs to deal with the ground that we have made around us. If you were running only on grass or sand then it would be great but that isnt a reality for most people. As far as vibrams are concerned, they are a really interesting idea but there is no shock absorption at all in them so on harder ground they are not quite as nice as a proper pair of trainers. Also they were never really meant to be running trainers, some runners started using them and when vibram realised this then they started to market themselves differently.
BirthdayShoes

Not sure why it took me so long to read this, but anyone who is interested in toe shoes (aka Vibrams or Five Fingers or Gorilla Feet), I’d encourage you to stop over at http://birthdayshoes.com, which is the unofficial fan site for them — basically you can read up on hundreds of user-submitted stories (and see photos of VFFs in action), read reviews, and ask questions on the forums (over 2K members).

There are other “barefoot running shoes” (or just minimalist footwear) out there, too, and we talk about those, as well.

If you’re looking into this, just be sure to do some research and take it slow! Injuries can be avoided this way — it takes a long time to reform your gait after decades of bad habits from high-heeled/heavily cushioned shoes.
zerosociety

VFF’s changed my life. It’s not just that the back pain that running or walking long distances caused me went away, but also the fact that I could *feel* the surface beneath my feet caused me to become engaged with running in a way I hadn’t been before. Yeah, it’s a little thing but VFF got my couch potato-ass out onto the streets and the hills a lot this year. When the winter came, it was hard to get used to boots again. (I need to score a pair of Treks.) Boots and normal trainers, even new Nike’s feel like boxes trapping my feet.

I’ve owned them for 9 months, now and they’ve held up amazingly and they transformed running from a painful chore to something engaging and fun.
Anonymous

Brooks CEO response is that apparently, his shoes are not as bad as cigarettes: “Currently, there is no conclusive evidence demonstrating barefoot/minimalist running reduces injury or that running in running shoes causes injury in every runner.”
Anonymous

Another close to barefoot-feeling shoe is the New Balance 790. Unfortunately, NB has discontinued them but their NB 100 looks very similar. I transitioned to them about six months ago and can’t imagine going back. My old running shoes feel like ski boots when I run in them now.
RedShirt77

I have Vibram 5 fingers. Got them for hiking in hopes that the change in stance would help with some bad knees.

I love them and considering something I have never felt comfortable doing, jogging.

They easily protect you from broken glass and the like.

there are few sizes of stone that can be uncomfortable to walk on, but generally this isn’t an issue. small rocks and big rocks are perfectly comfortable to walk on.

The only real downside of hard surfaces is standing. walking or running you are absorbing impact with your foot, but when standing still you end up on your heels and that gets exausting pretty quick.

Lesson learned, they aren’t good shoes to wear to the fair.
roderickrussell

@Kevin Kenny – Running in cold weather, including snow, ice, sleet, slush and rain, is actually pretty feasible if you go the route of using the Vibram FiveFingers. I use the KSO model myself in these conditions, but they actually make *cold weather* options as well (Flow & Trek) and you can pair them with a thin pair of Injinji socks. It’s surprising how much the feet will tolerate once they are warmed up.

http://roderickrussell.com/running/2010/01/cold-weather-running/
Itsumishi

I guess it’s time for me to get some Adidas High Tops tattooed to my feet and ankles and be done with shoes for good!
roderickrussell

@MrJM – That was my first reaction when checking out the study too, so I dug deeper. What I’ve realized is this:

Money for studies – in all industries – comes from all over, and yes, we need to be hyper-aware of biases and agendas. We don’t want to be duped by misrepresented data that is spun to enhance sales of a product. In this case, however, everything seems to be quite out in the open. One thing that reassured me is that the director of this study himself came out and said the following:

“We present no data and make no arguments about how people should run, whether shoes cause some injuries, whether barefoot running causes other kinds of injuries, and so on.”

None. No data. No judgment. He even says:

“There is a strong need for controlled, prospective studies on these problems.”

This research was very focused, very specific, and did NOT show that barefoot running is “better”. Much of the “barefoot is better” buzz comes from the lay people batting the story around. I’m all for barefoot and exploring the possibilities, but let’s keep in mind that this study did not conclusively show anything except that midfoot and forefoot striking barefoot runners tend to generate less impact transient forces. We have no idea at all if that has any bearing on injury, short-term or long-term. More studies need to be done.

The fact that the Lieberman (the researcher) is so very up-front about this gives me confidence that he’s not out to please his sponsors.

The bottom line is that we *always* need to scrutinize data. Even if the money is not coming from a corporate sponsor, researchers have biases too. A good skeptical attitude is a critical attitude. Keep an open mind, investigate, and think for yourself – those are the guidelines I use when looking at studies, especially ones that generate this much popular buzz.

From what I can see, this was a well-run study and is free from bias. Just keep in mind that anyone citing is as proof of barefoot = better is completely jumping to conclusions.

For more comments directly from the researcher, see the Runner’s World website:

http://peakperformance.runnersworld.com/2010/01/the-barefoot-running-debate-continues-to-make-headlines-in-the-running-media-the-mass-media-and-the-scientific-press-in-fa.html
Anonymous

A very interesting read about barefoot running, hundred mile ultra marathons and more is Christopher McDougall’s BORN TO RUN.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=9cEEuHpfWuQC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

It shares the same point of view that we didn’t evolve to run with raised, cushioned heels. Tons of neat examples. Excellent characters. Super read!
Anonymous

I feel vindicated – my mother used to tell me to walk heel striking the ground all the time when I’d rather spring around in what I felt was a more natural manner.
Lex10

Fix your feet forever – wear chef’s clogs: wooden bottoms leather tops. Forces you to develop your arch.
Fixed mine.
Anonymous

Shoes aren’t about soft beaches versus hard concrete. Shoes are about that one sharp rock or bit of glass. I wear shoes so I don’t have to scan the ground constantly (and because nice shoes are nice).
SlashMatrix

While I’m sure it would be fun, I don’t think that our modernized society is exactly forgiving when it comes to the bare foot:

– Debris (glass, needles, gravel, etc.)
– Biological hazards (animal feces, human trash, etc.)
– Fauna (fire ants, hookworm, scabies, etc.)
– Flora (Cenchrus “sandburs”, poison ivy, etc.)

Stubbed toes and shopping carts are two other hazards I wouldn’t want to face with a bare foot.
JoshP

Warning, zombie meme ahead.
Anecdote and narrative are great for the transmission of idea because they stick really well in the imagination. I mean, how many organic chem texts do we reread as opposed to novels? Masking ‘empiric observation’ ie: I drop my shoe it hits the ground… every time, as narrative is good. Unless it’s something like, well the best wines are Riesling. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t… It’s good narrative tho. Repeat that anecdote a few times and we approach crowd source propaganda, dogma at worse or maybe just a few more people ordering whites with red meat. But this is semantics.
Unfortunately the sentence above can be rewritten to read “barefoot runners’ shoes failed to protect them from hard heel bites from the walking undead.” Also true, could also be anecdotal. Complexity theory argues that observing shoe drops give us a pretty good empirical basis. Whereas barefoot running, probably a *really* complex system based on our observation point would give us a less empirical point to rule on. Thus making it anecdote bait. Yes???
Hm’kay. Gonna go soak my head in a warm saline solution for a while and ponder spring loaded treadmills.
- Anonymous
  
  In Real Life [tm], anecdotal evidence is all evidence that you personally did not record based on your own personal observations using your own organs of perception and/or your own personally calibrated tools.
  
  This has been the accepted definition among working scientists everywhere I’ve worked in the last 30 years. Thus, the plural of anecdote is data.
  
  My wife has worked with data that she gathered personally – to her that data is not anecdotal, but to the people who read her scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals it’s anecdotal. Only personal observation is non-anecdotal.
crnk

I am a little late to the discussion, but I ran barefoot in highschool sometimes. Usually this was when I had random fitting and blister issues that couldn’t be resolved with going sockless in the middle of a run. I don’t recall the exact distances, but I did it a handful of times and up to about 3-4 miles each time. The longest was a 10k street race where I misjudged the course and wore small spikes, so I took them off part of the way into the race and finished carrying my shoes.
First–asphalt is a somewhat easy surface to run on–it is somewhat smooth and you can generally see hazards beforehand. Grass is only possible if you know it is clean of sticks and rocks, such as a sports field. And most track surfaces are not possible to run barefoot on because the surface is so rough for traction.
Secondly–it sure does change the gait. And going barefoot mid-run really slows down the pace because you’re already into a pace and gait, but then changing to another gait.

I’m mixed and undecided about what to do for future running shoes. I know I can get a good pair that fit and will offer me generally injury free training for ~500 miles, or I can spend about the same amount and get a pair of barefoot shoes that may wear much more quickly or might not fit well to begin with.
John35899

I’ve been running in vibrams for the past year and they’re amazing! My one suggestion is to strengthen the achilles before making the switch.

I came across this fascinating piece from a link on Runner’s World on why Running Shoes don’t work. It basically says that research shows pronation and cushioning are useless.

http://stevemagness.blogspot.com/2010/01/why-running-shoes-do-not-work-looking.html
Anonymous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM

Lieberman’s impetus for his study came from this video by NJ Sports Medicine and Performance Center.
Anonymous

Cory, have you tried a Gait Analysis? Great Post! Gait Analysis can identify the souce of any pain that you may be experiencing and successfully treat the problem using several different methods. A Gait Analysis can also help in finding the correct footwear for your chosen sporting activity by identifying where your feet needs to be supported the most.
Antinous / Moderator

You Walk Wrong
Anonymous

I want to try barefoot running like this but I see waaay too much broken glass & other potential caltrop-like debris to make the leap; anyone know of a solution?
- Cory Doctorow
  
  Have a look at Vibram’s barefooting sandals.