Did you know that the modern sports shoe was invented by Nike in 1972? Did you also know that running injuries have increased dramatically since that time? It appears that there is something wrong with the modern running shoe.

Dan Lieberman from the University of Harvard compared how people run in a modern shoe and how people run barefoot. His team found that when you run in a modern padded running shoe, your heel hits the ground first and all the force of the impact is sent through your foot and up your leg.

This is what Dan Lieberman has to say on his research:
 

On the other hand, in cultures where people still run barefoot or with minimalist footwear, the foot tends to “kiss” the ground with the fore or mid-foot landing first. This drastically reduces the impact forces on the human body.

 

 

Leonardo da Vinci considered the human foot to be a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art. Around the arch of your foot is a “high tensile web of  twenty-six bones, thirty-three joints, twelve rubbery tendons and eighteen muscles all flexing like an earth-quake resistant suspension bridge,” notes Chris MacDougall in his book Born to Run. “No stonemason worth his trowel would ever stick a support under an arch; push up from underneath and you weaken the whole structure.

 

When you consider that we evolved for millions of years without shoes, how scientific studies have shown barefoot running to be less physically stressful and how intricate and powerful the foot is, it begins to make sense that we’d be better off without highly padded footwear.

 

However, it is not so straight forward for us to suddenly abandon our footwear. Years of being in padded shoes have made the muscles, bones and tendons in our feet weak. Therefore, it’s essential to move to barefoot running in a gradual way in order to build up force and stamina. There are also arguments that it’s easy to damage and hurt feet on modern surfaces. Whilst this is true, the sole of the foot quickly adapts to being used and becomes more resistant.

 

There are also several companies that are providing so called “minimalist” footwear which has very little in the way of soles. The best known of these is Vibram with their Five Fingers brand. These shoes fit very snugly to the foot and provide little or no padding, so the foot runs closely to its natural way, whilst being offered some protection from surfaces and some benefits of modern materials for grips.

 

Fivefingers were initially designed for use on slippery boat surfaces, but once discovered by the running fraternity, they have taken the world by storm and are increasingly popular. Just like barefoot running, it’s important to ease into them as the foot needs to become stronger in order to avoid being injured whilst those muscles regain their strength.