Hello: we must be careful with the generalization of this technique to the population. Elite athletes from Africa for example have this technique naturally do since childhood. I can the same happen with people from other places, but those who never used the barefoot running technique, need a proper adaptation to avoid injuries in the short and medium term.

Sorry for my English, I am learning and Google is helping me,

I'm doing barefoot running. Here I found a good source of research.

http://barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

But I didn't look up for counterpoints.

This effect, with or withou shoes is interesting becausa probably change energetic cost....

Johnny Padulo has a point here because we know that running barefoot increases the preload on the achilles tendon complex during the initial phases of foot strike. However, this stored energy should be returned during the push off phase, a good example of how much energy can be stored is to look at camels and kangaroos. Paavo Komi did some studies looking at stress loading in the achilles tendons using inplanted strain gauges. Magnaris at MMU has also done some inverse dynamics to calculate force transmission through the achilles tendon complex. The other factor that should be considered is the role of the tendons supporting the metarsal arch, they too store some energy during the first phase of foot strike, a role that will be diminshed when wearing shoes designed to cushion foot strike.

Well done

From personal experience I have found (true) bare-foot running to be completely different from shod running. Although I am starting out, I have kept my distance down to 3km's to allow my body to adjust. There appearrs to be more loading on the calves than I have ever had in half-marathons. Understandable really, when you change from heel-strike to forefoot. Pablo is correct, there is a certain lengthy transition period to ensure safe cross-over between the two techniques. You cannot simply cross-over directly into barefoot running. It would be interesting to conduct a running economy study on the forefoot strike (barefoot) vs heel strike (shod), anyone know who is doing this kind of work? Also, I am a pronator, so I'll be observe effects on potential injury.

J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2009 Mar;49(1):6-13.

Biomechanical and physiological comparison of barefoot and two shod conditions in experienced barefoot runners.

Squadrone R, Gallozzi C.

"Compared to standard shod condition, V.O(2) and peak impact forces were significantly lower with Fivefingers (P

In the late 80s (from the top of my mind), Robbins demonstrated that more expensive shoes, theoretically with improved cushioning properties, lead to higher impact forces and more injuries than cheaper ones. After compare shod and unshod conditions, he proposed the theory of “impact moderating behavior”. In the light of these new published data, it seems that barefoot running plus changes in technique (fore-foot strike) have a great potential to decrease impact forces, the risk of injury and, maybe, to increase the performance in long distance running.

I think the main problem we will face is convincing the general public about the benefits that can be derived from barefoot running. While I realize BFR is a fad at the moment, we are still missing it's acceptance by a large population of the running community. I don't ever believe everyone will run completely barefoot, for most are too nervous about stepping on something dangerous. Therefore, we need to emphasize proper running technique which, with the support of recent research, seems to be a mid-forefoot landing. This can be accomplished in normal running shoes as well as barefoot, although minimalist or barefoot conditions increase efficiency. Solely changing the strike pattern in all runners regardless of footwear may substantially reduce the occurrence of injury.

There is a good amount of interest in barefoot running (BFR) currently and evidence supports its advantages. I recently read a paper which looks at the problem differently.

Lieberman DE. What we can learn about running from barefoot running: an evolutionary medical perspective. Exerc. Sport Sci. Rev. 2012; 40(2):63Y72

For people who are considering the switch, we should keep in mind the adaptations our sole has gone through due to the protection it has received from footwear right from out childhood. Most people in the west are hardly seen without a footwear even inside homes. So transition is not going to be easy even if we prove beyond doubt about the benefits of BFR

That is an excellent point! It seems that most barefoot running related injuries occur due to overuse early on. We must promote a slow and steady transition process for those new to barefoot running. One question. Should an individual start running barefoot on grass or pavement? I believe that an individual should learn to run barefoot on grass prior to transitioning to pavement. My theory is that the grass allows the foot to develop the intrinsic musculature slowly by providing a softer landing surface. Therefore, you are able to develop your form before transitioning to the harsh pavement. On the other hand, I have read articles which state that individuals should start running barefoot on pavement since it forces you to develop a quick turnover rate and a light foot fall. Thought?

anyway, some shoes provide NO support to the arch...

we have published on higher medial pressure in soccer players (Wong et al. 2007a BJSM) and still the soccer boots do not provide this support more than 5 years later.... AND, we have proposed to manufacture assymetrical soccer boots (Wong et al. 2007b BJSM)... and still no trademark has done it (to the best of our knowledge)... with my colleague Del Wong we would like to propose to a big manufacturer this idea of creating an assymetrical soccer boot (based on our experiment findings)... does any one of you knows the procedures? or even has an idea about that ?

thanks

My opinion and experience as coach in track and field I observed which the kinematic of running between marathon runner and soccer player are very different; but also between low vs. high level in marathon runner; if you see the major competitions like the World Race, you can see which the elite athletes running whithout contact of the the bead because the phase fo the contact with bead corrisponding at delay during the stride cicle while is benefical to run with land only forefoot so the push phase is very shortly with fligth time inceased.

while we can see which the major runner who support the heel are heavy or do not know how to run

Moreover the dinamic of the foot is dependent from types the shoes, in particularly for runner the shoes (A1,2,3 more used and soft) while for soccer players (stiffer)

Besides: running on the asphalt/ground is different vs. soccer pitch.

I am very happy which open this question....

Mid-sole running, whether barefoot or with shoes has a different load on the hamstrings, as well as Achilles. Some research needs to be completed on developing safe transition to this approach, along with optimal use of technique in performance, at various distances

A recent article has been publised about Usain Bolt's contact times during his 100m runs...

Spring Mass Characteristics of the Fastest Men on Earth'' M. J. D. Taylor 1 , R. Beneke 2, Int J Sports Med, 2012, 33: 667-670

here you are the abstract:

The spring mass model has widely been used to

characterize the whole body during running and

sprinting. However the spring mass characteristics

of the world’s fastest men are still unknown.

Thus the aim of this study was to model these

characteristics for currently the 3 fastest men

on earth (Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell).

This was done by using data collected during

the 2009 World championships in Berlin

and the modelling method of Morin et al. [ 21 ] .

Even though Bolt achieved the greatest velocity

(12.3 m . s − 1 ) over the 60–80 m split compared to

his competitors, his estimated vertical stiff ness

(355.8 kN.m − 1 ) and leg stiff ness (21.0 kN.m − 1 )

were signifi cantly lower than his competitors.

This reduction in stiff ness is a consequence of

Bolt’s longer contact time (0.091 s) and lower step

frequency (4.49 Hz). Thus Bolt is able to run at

a greater velocity but with lower stiff ness compared

to his competitors

Dear Karim

probably this effect is relationship with the muscle strength because to develop high gradient of force it takes more time (which might be explained by the increase of contact time)

Usain Bolt= human or alien?

probably only is a normal people with a body height (1.96 m) respect the classic sprinters (1.80m), so the step length (UB) will be greater vs. (CS)

What about taking into account leg length? Bolt is the tallest of the three runners studied at 6' 5", Asafa Powell is second tallest at 6' 3", and Tyson Gay is the shortest at 5' 10". This could explain the differences in stride/step frequency since it would require Bolt to use more energy to move his legs as fast as the other two runners.

Hi Michael... Indeed the biomechanists has to study this and provide us with data in that regard :-)

This effect may be studied at fixed step frequency (Usain Bolt have high step length - always winner)

there appears to be controversy regarding to literature. According to American College of Sports Medicine 59th annual meeting, researches reported at ACSM their results about berefoot running. These studies are controversal, becouse it could depend on some variables such as the runner's weight, the size of their frame, and others. See also American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 59th Annual Meeting: Abstracts 1067, 2064, and 2063. Presented May 31, 2012.

I agree on the reference on barefoot. See the article Lieberman published in Nature:

Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners

DE Lieberman, M Venkadesan, WA Werbel, AI Daoud… - Nature, 2010

He shows that Kinematic and kinetic analyses show that even on hard surfaces, barefoot runners who fore-foot strike generate smaller collision forces than shod rear-foot strikers.

For Usain Bolt, it is very surprising because all studies on Leg stiffness show that elite sprinters have better values of Kleg than skilled. This is probably of the pattern of his cycle: high amplitude and low frequency. What is the mean value of the amplitude of his stride?