Barefoot Running Continued

If the sun rises, the topic of barefoot running will rear it's head in some fashion. So, here it goes again on this blog. It is a topic that will not go away soon as it's proponents and it's skeptics go "at it" in magazines, newspapers, and blogs across America.
The battle lines have been drawn, and the barefoot proponents are very quick to point out how the running shoe industry has been guilty of ruining the feet of the running community by altering the evolutionary process of the foot, all in the name of greed and profit. How? By manufacturing shoes and selling them to runners who put them on their feet! It's ironic that, one of the biggest proponents (and profiteers) of the barefoot craze is in fact, a shoe company, Vibrams. Their Five Finger shoe is touted as the shoe that nature intended us to wear, as it allows us to run, or walk "barefoot!" The last time I looked on their website I saw seven models! When I am barefoot in my home, or at the beach, I have ONE "model," my bare foot! Why we need 7 types of shoes to run barefoot baffles me!

The barefoot crowd now counters that argument and others, by pointing out that barefoot running really isn't about running "barefoot" at all. We're told it's about forefoot striking!  Runners have been landing on their forefeet for years and they are more subject to injuries to their calves and Achilles tendon!

 A few things need to be kept in mind when you read about this subject.

1. Injuries are sometimes the result of not running in a shoe, but in the wrong TYPE of shoe for your gait. If you are running in a motion control shoe when you should be running in a neutral shoe, injury can, over time, result. So, it's important that you receive a video gait analysis, like we do at Fleet Feet Mahwah, to be sure you're in the correct type of shoe.
2. We often get referrals from podiatrists who send their non-running patients to Fleet Feet for footbeds or shoes or both. Many of the ailments they suffer from are the same ones runners do. These are folks who aren't wearing running shoes so, the running shoe can't be the cause of their injury. Nor can we expect them to walk in their everyday shoes by forefoot striking! 
3. As stated in a previous blog, the bulk of barefoot running research has been done on elite or semi-elite athletes whose gaits are very much unlike the typical everyday runner!

Barefoot running for some can be introduced as an added method of alternate training. It is not for everyone!
The professionals at Superfeet and Brooks each have well defined, easy undertood views on barefoot running that I recommend you read. These are well researched based on years of knowing feet and how they behave!

Have any of you tried barefoot running? What was or is your experience? Please share it with us!?