Minimalists proceed with caution

[Jon Adams]

Before I get into the whole "barefoot vs shoe" debate let me state that I LIKE the idea of running/walking barefoot or with a "minimalist shoe" (Nike free, vibram FF, etc).........WHEN used PROPERLY! ;D
I believe it is a good thing to incorporate "barefoot" running into your training regimen to help strengthen your feet and ankles and encourage the runners I work with to do so. I use this at times to help a person with their form, usually to help them shorten their stride in a gradual way. No doubt our feet are designed to function without the "help" of shoes while we are walking, standing, or running on earth. The trouble begins when we start having to deal with our real world surroundings filled with pavement, concrete and other hard man-made surfaces (not to mention the obstacles of our own rubbish such as glass, metal, etc).
The problem I have with the whole minimalist "craze" or fad is the amount of misinformation out there that the "barefoot zealots" spew and of course which the media jumps on because of it's sensationalism. One of the biggest culprits is this Chris McDougall author of the semi-fiction book "Born to run". Chris is an excellent story-teller and writes an entertaining book, but the problem is the inaccuracies are picked up by fitness gurus and such and taken as "fact"......thus feeding the media hype! One of the most popular "spins" that the barefoot community likes to throw out there is the fact that there has been an increase in the number of running related injuries since the advent of "running shoes" some 30+ years ago. ...........well of COURSE there are more injuries, running shoes encouraged MORE people to RUN!!!!! C'Mon people, use the common sense that God gave you. Until "recently"(pre 70s) the only people who ran were a fringe element......those who excelled in track & field and those who could not play other sports. As running shoes were developed, it encouraged or allowed many more people to enjoy the sport. Along with that number comes several problems.....those who were/are in the wrong type of shoe for their mechanics, those who simply overtrained, those who did not pay attention to their form or did not know any better. This brings up the subject in which I do believe that shoes may contribute to injury (aside from wearing the wrong type of shoe)....today's running shoes allow you to be lazy if you will....they allow you to overstride with the cushioning in the heel which can contribute to injury over time not to mention slower times.
Of course nature decided for some reason to put most of the foot's padding in the heel of the foot as well....go figure.

Oh, before I post an article and a few quotes that I found quite interesting I can't help but point out that Chris McDougall was attending a PR event to PUSH his book recently.....went out for a run in his vibram FFs and had to pull up before he could finish his run........due to a stress fracture in his foot!!!!
Priceless.

This was the most "revealing" piece of information that I came across....

"Our clinic has seen a dramatic increase in lower limb injuries these past six to eight months, the number of patients is 45% higher than previous years with 90% of the increased number directly related to the habit of wearing the so called minimalist footwear which has become all the rage recently. There are two primary problems we have seen occur. One is the people using this footwear are running or walking too much too soon after years of a sedentary lifestyle and two, people are using the footwear for too long of a period of time on hard surfaces whether it be standing, walking or running. The argument is that this footwear strengthens the intrinsic muscles in the foot allowing you to walk better unshod at all times. This is not true. While walking barefoot will certainly develop and strengthen the muscles in the feet, the foot needs support under the arch to operate properly as designed. After time the arch will eventually fatigue and develop problems. Interestingly, most of those we have seen with developed problems associated with walking and running unshod or in minimalist footwear seemed to have developed their arch problems after roughly two years of this practice, which pretty well fits into the time frame I would describe."

Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College

Interesting.......

[Jon Adams]

Wow, I'd thought we'd get more discussion on this topic......as it sometimes seems this subject is almost as divisive as the subject of abortion!

[Daniel Gardner]

Great article. I liked the book but I laugh everytime I see a runner on pavement with the vibrams. I ahve a pair and had been using them about 20 min a week on grass. since, I've retired them and stick to lighter running shoes without too much padding. and that seems to have fixed my injuries, that and stretching of course.

[Kenny Pfeiffer]

I wear lightweight trainers exclusively when training. Anything between 7 and 10 ozs. I don't like heavy shoes, but on the flipside I would never wear vibrams and I don't really run barefoot except maybe on the grass at the track when my shoes and socks are soaked from sweat. I do have a very neutral foot and as a result I can get away with wearing just about anything.

[Ali Stevens]

I couldn't stand the Nike Free's! They hurt my feet and I sent them back. However, I was one of the people who miss-used the shoe and probably tried to run too far in the them. I have never tried the whole bearfoot thing but I am sure it is beneficial to some people.

[Jon Adams]

Just a little "something" from one of our more famous barefoot runners (keep in mind she did not run barefoot on the "road")...Zola Budd:

"I no longer run barefoot," she told the UK Guardian in 2005. "As I got older I had injuries to my hamstring. I found that wearing shoes gives me more support and protection from injuries."

One thing to point out here is that any type of training is not necessarily right for everyone. The problem I have with the current HYPE is just that, the HYPE! People, we have seen all of this before. Do you think that the idea of minimalist running is something new?? Not at all....but the media and the higher profile people in certain area of the fitness world along with some authors trying to sell their book (with misinformation) would have us believe that they have made the discovery that shoes are evil for everyone and everyone should spend all or MOST of their time walking around either barefoot or with a slab of neoprene and rubber slapped on their feet. We are all free to make whatever choices we like but let's face it, when some so called expert who only has a passing knowledge of how the foot actually works starts touting the amazing benefits of some "new" product...well the natural tendency is for many, or those who respect their opinion to say to themselves..."Oh, well this MUST be true!".....and blindly follow their example. Hopefully these people will not have to pay the price several years down the road.
One example I can think of is the dual claim from the minimalist camp that standing/walking/running constantly either barefoot or in a minimalist "device" will strengthen your intrinsic muscles in the feet and actually help increase the height of your arches. The problem here is that an increase in arch height is usually and indication of weakened intrinsic muscles in the foot!!......so which is it??

[Jon Adams]

LMAO ........I dunno, but for some reason Vibram has seen the need to add some more "oomph" to their newest offering....a "shoe" with more beef to it.....about the weight of a regular racing flat with more padding in the forefoot and in general an all-around more "substantial" shoe........maybe they saw some of those injury reports and decided a little more protection was needed.

But in their defense, it was not Vibram exactly that was telling people to go out and run everywhere or stand all day in their product......they did tend to warn with a disclaimer....it's just that those who jumped on the "bandwagon" that I mentioned earlier in this thread usually failed to point this out. Of course Vibram usually didn't go out of their way to do so either.....especially when those who were singing their praises were being sponsored, endorsed, or backed by Vibram in some way.

[Jon Adams]

Interesting.....over the past 2 days I've had 4 people (3 walk-ins & 1 phone call) to complain of problems that they have attributed to their VFFs. Three of these people have started experiencing problems with their arches.....and the fourth unfortunately developed a stress fracture. The three with arch problems have been wearing their FFs for about a year and a half and supposedly eased into wearing them as suggested. The stress fracture case developed after wearing them for 6 months.
Of course all of the people could have developed these problems regardless, but I do find it interesting that all of these people have been running for 5 years or more with no problems until now. The time frame of the arch problems seem to correspond fairly close to the findings included in the initial post of this thread.
Hmmmmmmmm.

[rjm]

A couple of things to add to this:

Using vibram five fingers for running on pavement is a bad idea. It will cause neuromas in your foot. If you are going to use them for running, then low mileage in grass would be the way to go. Of course, not everyone is the same, so your mileage may vary. (Things that could contribute to problems: imbalance in muscle strength in legs, or extra weight which increases load on joints).

Why imbalance in muscle strength in legs? The physiology is a bit complex, but for example as to one such problem: when running, your patella is stabilized by your quadricep and running doesn't work your quadricep as much as your hamstring. Hence, your hamstring can become much stronger than your quadricep. The problem? It can lead to destablization, overpowering the quadricep and aggravating the patella. It can lead to problems like pes anserine bursitis(inflammation of the bursa sac in the knee) and the dreaded ITB(weak hip flexors can also cause ITB issues).

The other issue is a misconception that I had, which I saw mentioned above, and that I am glad I have corrected:
www.army.mil/-news/2010/07/26/42842-using-foot-shape-to-select-running-shoe-is-sports-myth/index.html

Just as the article suggests: fitting foot shape to shoe type is bunkum, hokey, not scientifically backed. You can also read referenced research on that issue from Dr. Noakes "The Lore of Running."

Basically, what it boils down to is this: everyone is different(surprise?) and that there is no cookie-cutter approach when it comes down to selecting the shoe that is right for YOU. It is best to get a feel, through trial and error, as to what shoe feels comfortable for you by trying out several of them, and running in them, at a shoe store. Obviously, the more consistent you are with running, the more clued in you will be about YOUR body and how it responds to the demands you place upon it.

[Kenny Pfeiffer]

I know this is an old thread but just came across an interesting blog which reminded me of this thread. Its pretty short and insightful. Sage Canaday is a Cornell Grad with a degree in Physiology that is now running with the Hanson's.

flotrack.org/blogs/blogger/Sage/19549-minimalism-in-running

[johnbrigham]

This is a great discussion. I read that book too and thought it was good but it had some glaring generalities in it that (just as Mr. Adams said) the public and the media love to latch on to. How appropriate that he hurt his foot while running in Vibrams to support his book. It is true that people are blindly led in many cases, and this is definitely one. I have a friend who always ran in Vibrams and always ran on pavement at 6:30 pace or faster for all his easy runs (when he wasnt in shape to do this) and everytime he got over 35 miles per week for more than a three week period he would be injured.... like clock work. After a while, I said "Why dont you try to go run on some golf courses with me for some 10-12 mile runs in normal shoes and see if that works better." cuz what he was doing clearly never worked. It was really frustrating because he has some talent but has never been able to stay healthy enough to increase his training load because he gets injured every 3 weeks. But he was ebing blindly led. I think he is starting to come around now though. Thing is, you have to have substantial time to readjust to the feeling of having lighter (or in some cases, no) shoes. It has to be an incredibly gradual adjustment period.

[Jon Adams]

Hopefully some of the "Lemmings" will take note of this......

www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/01/09/youre_crazy/

[Brad]

More fuel for the fire!
See the link for some scientific explanation.

www.sportsscientists.com/2011/06/barefoot-running-shoes-and-born-to-run.html

from this explanation it does not appear to have anything to do with the shoe. IT'S THE FOOT STRIKE!!!!!!!!

Natural mid/forefoot runners RULE!!!