Who goes bare? (From Bournemouth Echo)

Who goes bare?

9:00am Wednesday 3rd March 2010 in

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IT’S enough to make a sports shoe manufacturer run a mile in his designer cushioned-soled micro-chipped trainers. For latest research shows that barefoot running is better for you.

Researchers have found that people who run barefoot tend to land on the middle of the foot and avoid jarring their joints and bones. But those who run in shoes tend to land on the heels, sending painful shock waves through the body.

“Barefoot running is the natural way to move,” explains physiotherapist and seasoned triathlete Ann-Marie Samuel, who runs Body In Motion in Boscombe. “Research shows running barefoot has enormous benefits, is great for your legs and feet, great for your posture, allows you to run faster and with fewer injuries.

“Our ancestors ran barefoot and many Kenyans still do today with little or no foot ankle and shin problems compared to Westerners.”

But before you start ditching those expensive trainers, Ann- Marie says it is important to pace yourself and to combine barefoot running with your usual training routine: “It is something you need to build up to slowly – five minutes at a time until your feet get used to it.”

For more sensitive “soles” there are the new Five Finger Shoes which, she explains, act like a second skin, delivering all the health and performance benefits of barefoot running with less risk of running injury She herself is a convert and many of her clients are now footwear-free devotees too, including long-distance runner Rhys Henderson, 51.

He has been running for over 30 years and has completed 24 marathons but decided to try something different because he was experiencing tightness in his calves and Achilles heel.

“I started barefoot running about 18 months ago. I’d read a lot about the benefits.

“I wanted to do a different programme to strengthen the muscles in my calves and feet. When you run barefoot you can feel different muscles working, “ he explains. “I started running on the beach and then I was given a pair of Five-Finger Shoes as a present so I can now run on the pavement or promenade too.

“They do look a bit strange and people sometimes do a double take but I now have fewer problems with my calves. I wouldn’t do it all the time – about half an hour to 40 minutes is enough. I still wear my trainers for longer distances.”

Many people have also been encouraged by the success of Born To Run: The Rise of Ultra-Running by Christopher McDougall for his tales of training with the Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico – a tribe famed for their running ability in bare feet or basic home-made sandals.

Studies show that 30 per cent of runners get injured every year – mainly shin splints, knee pain and Achilles problems .

Some evidence suggests that landing on the heel is similar to applying the brakes.

Dr Daniel Lieberman, professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University, has been studying the growing injury crisis in the developed world for some time and has come to a startling conclusion: “A lot of foot and knee injuries currently plaguing us are caused by people running with shoes that actually make our feet weak, cause us to over-pronate (ankle rotation) and give us knee problems.

“Until 1972, when the modern athletic shoe was invented, people ran in very thin-soled shoes, had strong feet and had a much lower incidence of knee injuries.”