Human body has been designed to perform well when running without shoes



source: dw.world.de



Did you know that barefoot running might protect you from injuries? This is the result of the analysis published by the Harvard’s professor Daniel Lieberman. His first study was published in Nature in 2010 and the authors claimed that barefoot running may protect the lower leg from certain impact-related injuries.

The analysis showed that barefoot runners often land on the forefoot, sometimes with a flat foot but rarely on the heel. In the contrary, rear-foot landing is very common when wearing modern running shoes and this pattern of landing has been shown to create greater collision forces on the foot compared with the barefoot running.

Sources

Lieberman, Venkadesan, Werbel, Daoud, D’ Andrea, Davis, Mang’eri and Pitsiladis. Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitual barefoot versus shod runners. Nature 463: 531-535, 2010.

Lieberman. What we can learn about running from barefoot running: an evolutionary medical perspective. Exercise & Sport Sciences Reviews 40: 63-72, 2012.