8 ms·

How Humans Ran Comfortably and Safely Before the Invention of Shoes

30 points by oscardelben 17y ago

balding_n_tired 17y ago
Overstriding tends to jar the hips, no matter how cushioned the heel. I did notice that the irregular footing in Saturday's snow--running over others' footprints--enforced a different stride.
- rdtsc 17y ago
  Besides that, humans have probably evolved to run through grass, mud and sand, I am not sure that running on concrete or broken glass (in the city) would work as well.
  - jared314 17y ago
    Hence the shoes geared towards barefoot running. Vibram FiveFingers, Feelmax, Nike Free, etc.
    - rdtsc 17y ago
      But I understand that their soles are very thin, thus they still don't protect against the impact when running on a concrete sidewalk.
      - nfnaaron 17y ago
        Not them by themselves, but they have you striking on the ball of your foot, or mid-foot at most. That reduces the sudden impact on your foot and leg. Heel striking is like driving a post (your lower leg) into the ground. Striking on the ball of the foot converts the force into rotational energy (pivoting around the ball, and around the ankle) and spreads it out over time.
        rdtsc 17y ago
        I wasn't talking about the heel strike, it is understood that this is about barefoot running. So the strike is on the ball of the foot. I was just saying that even striking the ball of the foot many times against concrete is a lot harder on the feet than doing the same on grass, mud, or sand. The idea behind barefoot running is revert to the conditions for which the human leg has been adapting to for many thousands of years. My argument was that perhaps we haven't yet adopted to very hard surfaces, such as asphalt or concrete sidewalks ...
        blueben 17y ago
        You think humans never ran across rock or hard packed dirt?
gabeiscoding 17y ago
There seems to be a wave of media attention on this following the release and popularity of "Born to Run". If you are a runner or would like to be one, it's a good read. And if you haven't found out about it yet, check out Vibram Five Finger "shoes" which allow you to start barefoot running without the callouses and hard skin: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
- mrduncan 17y ago
  I'm sure I've said it before, but if you're interested in running I really recommend checking out the book. http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303 http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest...
  - oscardelben 17y ago
    I'm going to check it out. I have heard a lot about this book lately. Thanks for mentioning it
- 3vad3 17y ago
  I have been using Five Fingers for about a year. I initially used them to help me rehab a muscle/nerve injury in my leg. I have found that after learning to run in them my legs and feet never hurt like they did when I ran in my "running" shoes. I used to get Iliotibial Band Syndrome when I ran over 5 miles a day. I have yet to have IBS come back after I switched to the five fingers. You learn to slow down, cut your stride down and pay attention to where you are placing your feet.
RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago
Lots of coverage of this and related material recently. Here are some earlier submissions, not all of which cover the same ground, but which are related. There may be more, I've found these partly by hand and may have missed some. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1084520 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1084520 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081341 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081341 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1071073 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1071073
jackfoxy 17y ago
After reading another article pointed to by HN, and watching some YouTube reviews, I rushed out and bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers and have been wearing them almost exclusively ever since. They've changed my life.
- tonystubblebine 17y ago
  In what way have they changed your life?
  - jackfoxy 17y ago
    It's a little hard to explain, your feet are more in touch with the ground. You are now balanced as engineered by nature (most shoes have the heal at least slightly higher), you walk and run as engineered by nature, your toes are independent (rather than being crammed together)...and it just changes how your body feels. It's not a controlled experiment, I'm also eating better and excercising more.
- bluedrag 17y ago
  Which one did you get?
  - jackfoxy 17y ago
    KSO
- tomkinstinch 17y ago
  Do you wear socks with them? Do you find that your feet feel colder?
  - jackfoxy 17y ago
    I usually where toe socks, sometimes not. Sure in the winter my feet are a little colder, it doesn't bother me.
ajscherer 17y ago
I found this page on Brooks website very interesting. They invited an assortment running "experts" from various backgrounds to give their opinion on barefoot running. http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Running/The+Experts/ http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Runnin... The consensus seems to be that there are proven benefits to running barefoot, but that it is not always the most appropriate choice. They caution runners seeking to transition to barefoot against doing too much too soon.
dkimball 17y ago
Very interesting. (Link: the main illustration of the different running gaits is at http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeTheModernShoe.html http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeThe... ). I'm surprised to see that they didn't find a difference in kinetic energy between heel and forefoot impacts; my naive assumption was that the "rolling" motion of the foot in a heel strike would result in a higher-energy bound forward...
og1 17y ago
Interesting article. I see barefoot/minimal shoe running as possible way to correct issues in running form. Could practice running on your toes on a track or something like that. You could also just spend time with regular running shoes to correct your running form away from the heel-striking which some naturally fall into. Although interesting, I don't think I'd ever go for a run without running shoes. Just seems like a good way to step on something sharp and have it go into your foot.
- zargon 17y ago
  Feet have good reflexes for avoiding debris. But the choice isn't just between risking stepping on glass barefoot and ruining your feet with Nikes -- cf. "barefoot shoes" like Vibram, Vivo, etc.

30 points by oscardelben 17y ago

Overstriding tends to jar the hips, no matter how cushioned the heel. I did notice that the irregular footing in Saturday's snow--running over others' footprints--enforced a different stride.

rdtsc 17y ago
Besides that, humans have probably evolved to run through grass, mud and sand, I am not sure that running on concrete or broken glass (in the city) would work as well.
- jared314 17y ago
  Hence the shoes geared towards barefoot running. Vibram FiveFingers, Feelmax, Nike Free, etc.
  - rdtsc 17y ago
    But I understand that their soles are very thin, thus they still don't protect against the impact when running on a concrete sidewalk.
    - nfnaaron 17y ago
      Not them by themselves, but they have you striking on the ball of your foot, or mid-foot at most. That reduces the sudden impact on your foot and leg. Heel striking is like driving a post (your lower leg) into the ground. Striking on the ball of the foot converts the force into rotational energy (pivoting around the ball, and around the ankle) and spreads it out over time.
      - rdtsc 17y ago
        I wasn't talking about the heel strike, it is understood that this is about barefoot running. So the strike is on the ball of the foot. I was just saying that even striking the ball of the foot many times against concrete is a lot harder on the feet than doing the same on grass, mud, or sand. The idea behind barefoot running is revert to the conditions for which the human leg has been adapting to for many thousands of years. My argument was that perhaps we haven't yet adopted to very hard surfaces, such as asphalt or concrete sidewalks ...
        blueben 17y ago
        You think humans never ran across rock or hard packed dirt?

gabeiscoding 17y ago

There seems to be a wave of media attention on this following the release and popularity of "Born to Run". If you are a runner or would like to be one, it's a good read. And if you haven't found out about it yet, check out Vibram Five Finger "shoes" which allow you to start barefoot running without the callouses and hard skin: http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/ http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

mrduncan 17y ago
I'm sure I've said it before, but if you're interested in running I really recommend checking out the book. http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307266303 http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest...
- oscardelben 17y ago
  I'm going to check it out. I have heard a lot about this book lately. Thanks for mentioning it
3vad3 17y ago
I have been using Five Fingers for about a year. I initially used them to help me rehab a muscle/nerve injury in my leg. I have found that after learning to run in them my legs and feet never hurt like they did when I ran in my "running" shoes. I used to get Iliotibial Band Syndrome when I ran over 5 miles a day. I have yet to have IBS come back after I switched to the five fingers. You learn to slow down, cut your stride down and pay attention to where you are placing your feet.

RiderOfGiraffes 17y ago

Lots of coverage of this and related material recently. Here are some earlier submissions, not all of which cover the same ground, but which are related. There may be more, I've found these partly by hand and may have missed some. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086446 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1084520 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1084520 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081341 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081341 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1071073 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1071073

jackfoxy 17y ago

After reading another article pointed to by HN, and watching some YouTube reviews, I rushed out and bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers and have been wearing them almost exclusively ever since. They've changed my life.

tonystubblebine 17y ago
In what way have they changed your life?
- jackfoxy 17y ago
  It's a little hard to explain, your feet are more in touch with the ground. You are now balanced as engineered by nature (most shoes have the heal at least slightly higher), you walk and run as engineered by nature, your toes are independent (rather than being crammed together)...and it just changes how your body feels. It's not a controlled experiment, I'm also eating better and excercising more.
bluedrag 17y ago
Which one did you get?
- jackfoxy 17y ago
  KSO
tomkinstinch 17y ago
Do you wear socks with them? Do you find that your feet feel colder?
- jackfoxy 17y ago
  I usually where toe socks, sometimes not. Sure in the winter my feet are a little colder, it doesn't bother me.

ajscherer 17y ago

I found this page on Brooks website very interesting. They invited an assortment running "experts" from various backgrounds to give their opinion on barefoot running. http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Running/The+Experts/ http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Runnin... The consensus seems to be that there are proven benefits to running barefoot, but that it is not always the most appropriate choice. They caution runners seeking to transition to barefoot against doing too much too soon.

dkimball 17y ago

Very interesting. (Link: the main illustration of the different running gaits is at http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeTheModernShoe.html http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeThe... ). I'm surprised to see that they didn't find a difference in kinetic energy between heel and forefoot impacts; my naive assumption was that the "rolling" motion of the foot in a heel strike would result in a higher-energy bound forward...

og1 17y ago

Interesting article. I see barefoot/minimal shoe running as possible way to correct issues in running form. Could practice running on your toes on a track or something like that. You could also just spend time with regular running shoes to correct your running form away from the heel-striking which some naturally fall into. Although interesting, I don't think I'd ever go for a run without running shoes. Just seems like a good way to step on something sharp and have it go into your foot.

zargon 17y ago
Feet have good reflexes for avoiding debris. But the choice isn't just between risking stepping on glass barefoot and ruining your feet with Nikes -- cf. "barefoot shoes" like Vibram, Vivo, etc.