Running debate: Bare or in shoes?

Running debate: Bare or in shoes?

www.cnn.com

Using high-speed video, the study revealed barefoot runners strike with their forefoot and suffer less jarring to their bodies. When you're barefoot, you're going to land with the portion of your foot that is most springy. And think of the barefoot run as a game of hot potato -- if you know you have rocks and glass on that surface, you're going to move more carefully and pick your feet up quicker.

Shoe wearers strike with their heel and deliver a shock to their overall body that is two to three times their body weight.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I think i have been spending too much time on ATS when i read an article like this and scream TPTB make us wear shoes for more power.

But... there could be some truth to this. Humanity did not evolve with shoes on, they were something we added on to. Trying to keep shoes on children is a chore in itself. We are not meant to wear them and we could quite simply live without them.

Are shoes there to help us? or are they there to continue to create lower back problems, knees going out of joint, money spent on them etc?

www.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

you know, this really makes me wonder. I have asthma and have never been able to run any distances because i end up experiencing breathing difficulty. this is due to both having asthma run in my family, and not being in as good of shape as i should be. but when i run barefoot...i can run much longer without experiencing difficulty. i never understood why this was the case, but perhaps this idea could have something to do with that.

We wear shoes because there's all sorts of stuff on the floor.

I for one don't want to get a shot every week for accidentally stepping on something. That being said, there are slippers and crocs, if you don't wanna wear shoes, just take them off. Who doesn't like being bare foot?

i have been running (weightlifting, floor exercises, etc.) barefoot for three months now.

it was a tough transition. i spent 1.5 weeks unable to even walk upright after my first running session. but my overall workout experience is incredibly much more enjoyable, and i am sprinting faster than i ever thought i could. you can run really fast on the balls of your feet (as opposed to the heel).

i wear these: www.vibramfivefingers.com...

i was introduced to them here on ATS in a thread just like this, and now i am passing along the favor.

Well I see this whole running trend being very unhealthy in the long run. Barefoot or not. There is no way in hell that running miles everyday non stop is healthy for the human body. This whole trend of marathon running and all these people I see running constantly as the holy grail of health is just stupid. The human body was never meant to run for hours on end.

The running industry is a $20 billion dollar industry....err....the running shoe industry.

I wear 10 dollar beach socks that feel just like walking barefoot.

I don't need those over priced fived toed thingees that are basically the thing I wear.

I wear them every where because they are black and nobody notices them.

They have soft rubber soles are made out of neoprene and nylon.

I have a number of them I have purchased at different times for just 10 dollars.

I rotate wearing them so they wear out evenly.

You don't have to go to a Fancy sport store to purchase them at a in exorbitant price.

I bought my beach socks at Target.For 10 bucks.

[edit on 21-2-2010 by Oneolddude]

ee can we please consider the amount of bad times our poor feet would be in for if stopped wearing shoes.. I dont fancy cutting my feet open on glass and crap like that, getting frostbite, and having the pain of stubbing your toe increased 10x's due to not having a shoe sitting between your toes and the nasty piece of furniture that decides it wants to cause you some serious pain.
There are reasons we wear shoes, and the same goes for wearing clothes too.

Originally posted by vjr1113
Who doesn't like being bare foot?

I dont! Feet are nasty.

I used to love running on grass barefoot, or playing football (soccer for the yanks) in my socks when I was little.

I was watching that movie Mel Gibson directed... Apocalypto I think, afew days ago, & the natives are running barefoot through forests, cities ect & I was thinking god that must hurt, but your feet would naturally get rougher on the sole.

It's not that viable to roam about barefoot in the western world though with all the glass, rusty nails, fag butts & junk strun across the streets though.