Scoop: Cover of Nature on barefoot running! (Read 1615 times)

 

I saw that and chuckled...someone is afraid they won't sell shoes!

 Hey, they'll sell you some Nike Frees!

Link to the Editor's Summary and Articles here.

Naturally when a high profile Nature article is released, it will get picked up by the news organizations. Man, I thought it was at a fever pitch in the running communities I'm a part of, but this is kind of nuts! 

Business Week

Reuters

Ah, hell, here's a Google News aggregation of it.

The harvard web page is live now.

 

They have some nice videos. 

i don't run barefoot but years ago in Boston I walked around barefoot all summer. My feet toughened up so that I could step on pieces of glass that would break under my feet without cutting me. The only time I got glass in my feet was from tiny almost  invisible slivers  that   I would  occasionally pick up.  My point being that feet can toughen up pretty well, so I don't  think that's much of an arguement against barefoot running.

Pretty amazing that everywhere I turn I hear or see something new about barefoot running......

 

On NPR day before yesterday........ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123035045

 

A friend of mine had a Men's Health magazine (I think) on a plane a couple of weeks ago with an article about barefoot running, too.

Whats interesting, it appears correct me if I am wrong... but the author is converted during the course of the research.  Powerful story if true.

I thought the Business Week article was a good light summary, but I'm still turned off by the media disconnect with the actual science.  The science is saying that forefoot/midfoot strikes seem to have less impact than heel strikes.  It does not however say that we should all run barefoot, or even that barefoot is better than shod.  The media somehow reports this as "Running barefoot is better!"

 

Lieberman even seems to be annoyed with this incorrect analysis and has a statement on his site:

Here is a summary of our findings, which we try to explain in simple terms, videos and images in the following pages:

Our research asked how and why humans can and did run comfortably without modern running shoes. We tested and confirmed what many people knew already: that most experienced, habitual barefoot runners tend to avoid landing on the heel and instead land with a forefoot or midfoot strike. The bulk of our published research explores the collisional mechanics of different kinds of foot strikes. We show that most forefoot and some midfoot strikes (shod or barefoot) do not generate the sudden, large impact transients that occur when you heel strike (shod or barefoot). Consequently, runners who forefoot or midfoot strike do not need shoes with elevated cushioned heels to cope with these sudden, high transient forces that occur when you land on the ground. Therefore, barefoot runners can run easily on the hardest surfaces in the world without discomfort from landing. If impact transient forces contribute to some forms of injury, then this style of running (shod or barefoot) might have some benefits, but that hypothesis remains to be tested.
Please note that we present no data or opinions on how people should run, whether shoes cause some injuries, or whether barefoot running causes other kinds of injuries. We believe there is a strong need for controlled, prospective studies on these problems.

I think its interesting that humans have spent millions of years figuring out how to strap protection on to our feet as we've risen in society and started living longer, but that barefoot was better all along.

 

I think all the barefoot evangelists would be put to better use promoting better mechanics (forefoot/midfoot strike, shoes that allow or promote this, etc) rather than sticking with the hippie image they currently have.  Most good running shoes allow for forefoot/midfoot strike, provide cushioning for that type of strike, and still have protection against heel strikes when fatigued.  I'd much rather see a line of cushioned shoes targeted at forefoot/midfoot strikes (and labeled as such) than to hear the media tell me to ditch my shoes because I'm doing it all wrong.

 

I think VFFs are a good step in the right direction, but it seems more like they're forcing you to run the right way (fore/midfoot strike) rather than actually improving upon a proper fore/midfoot strike.