Just had one of those … shake my head… roll the eyes … moments, when this turned up in my alerts. We all been subjected to the propaganda and rhetoric on this. We already know from the actual evidence that 25% of barefoot runners heel strike (when the spun narrative says that this is not […]
Archive | Barefoot Running
Foot Structure and Injury Differences Between Habitually Barefoot and Shod
I was doing a live Facebook thing with Ian Griffiths last week answering questions. One of those questions was about what happened to this blog as I had not posted anything since September. It simply boils down to time. I have what I think are some important posts written in my head and just need […]
When I read things like this…
…I roll my eyes. Not because there is anything wrong with the publication; it is just the heat and vitriol that I and others were subjected to over the years by the fan boy haters for pointing out what the overwhelming preponderance of evidence is continuing to show. Their propaganda and rhetoric is still not […]
Impact loads in barefoot and shoe running
I currently sitting in Toronto airport waiting for a flight, so will not say anything much on this: The effects of barefoot and barefoot inspired footwear on tibiofemoral kinetics during running Jonathan Sinclair Human Movement. ISSN (Online) 1899-1955, DOI: 10.1515/humo-2016-0022, October 2016 Purpose. The current investigation aimed to examine the effects of running barefoot and […]
Barefoot Running and ‘Overpronation’
I previously noted that some barefoot runners claim that the height of the arch of their feet increased after taking up barefoot running; others claim no change and, much to their dismay, some even have reported a decrease in their arch height. Some have documented changes in arch shape with photographs, and others have faked […]
Vibram FiveFingers and muscle strength … umm, err…
{POSTSCRIPT: The journal have removed this paper after they were informed of the conflict of interest by someone who had read what I wrote below. } {POSTSCRIPT 2: The journal have published the paper with all the flaws mentioned still there. They should not have. It should be retracted} I had heard about this study […]
Foot morphology in barefoot vs shod runners and its effects on biomechanics
A few weeks ago there was this publication that looked at morphological differences between habitual barefoot and shod runners and it was only of mild interest due to the ethnic differences between the groups. Were the morphological differences due to the barefoot vs shod or where that due to Indian (barefoot) vs Chinese (shod)? I […]
“Running barefoot may increase injury risk in older, more experienced athletes”
This press release is starting to the rounds: Running barefoot may increase injury risk in older, more experienced athletes Older athletes less likely to adapt running style to “minimalist” shoes LAS VEGAS – In recent years there has been an explosion in barefoot running, as well as the purchase and use of “minimalist” running shoes […]
Is this a ‘Fadotomy’?
Until five minutes ago, I had never heard of the word ‘Fadotomy’. A fadotomy is apparently the anatomy of the transformation of a fad into the prevailing paradigm… well at least that is what one reference I could find called it, so I doubt it is going to be come the prevailing vernacular as a […]
The Risks and Benefits of Running Barefoot or in Minimalist Shoes
Nine formal systematic reviews of the evidence have so far been published looking at the evidence on barefoot or minimalist running having systematic benefits or not. Every single one of them concluded the same thing (reviewed here and here and here). Despite those conclusions, all by people from different backgrounds and published in a variety […]
Barefoot running survey: Evidence from the field???
I am in a cranky mood this morning. I put off reviewing this one as I new what I was going to write was not going to be complementary and I had other more interesting papers to review and comment on. I finally got to it as couple of fan boys emailed me asking me […]
Review of Lieberman et al’s (2010) paper in Nature on Barefoot Running
Since starting this blog I have tried to cover every relevant piece of research when its published as well as summarize some topics in the context of what the evidence is saying. I have missed a few and still do have a bit of a backlog of recent ones. It all comes down to allocating […]
Reduction in Ground Reaction Forces with Barefoot Running
One of the more common arguments for barefoot running (or at least transitioning to minimalist shoes or just a forefoot/midfoot strike) is that it is easier to more lightly contact the ground and eliminate the magnitude of impacts associated with a heel strike. Now we have this study that looked at the magnitude of reduction […]
Barefoot/Minimalism Running and Heel Striking
The widely held assumption is that heel striking is associated with the use of more traditional running shoes with padding under the heel and forefoot/midfoot striking is more associated with barefoot or minimal running shoes. The probable reason is the comfort of heel strike with a padded shoe and the somewhat discomfort associated with the […]
Effect of Barefoot Running on Strength, Balance and Proprioception
A lot of claims get made for the effect that barefoot or minimalist running has on muscle strength, but there is a lack of good data backing up the volume of the rhetoric and propaganda you keep reading on this. Given the volume and strength of the claims you would have thought that there would […]