6 ms·

>When you run barefoot, or in a pair of ultra-light "shoes" like Vibrams, you learn very quickly not to do that, or you stop running. The "right" way is to land

>When you run barefoot, or in a pair of ultra-light "shoes" like Vibrams, you learn very quickly not to do that, or you stop running. The "right" way is to land on the ball of the foot, with the knee slightly bent. The knee bends further to dissipate the force of the landing. This is how evolution "meant" for us to do it. There's more to it than that. Please make sure that you are pushing off with your heel. Many people assume that barefoot running is the same as running on the balls of your feet, but if, after your toes touch, you aren't subsequently landing and pushing off with your heel, you are likely to injure yourself, and more seriously than if you didn't barefoot run at all. The small, delicate toes in the forefoot are not meant to handle the load of landing and takeoff. FYI: This movement doesn't feel natural or normal for most people until they have tried it a bunch - the muscles and flexibility for it aren't there. It took me about six weeks of practice, but I was not a particularly frequent runner - mostly because of the knee pain of running 'normally'. The pain was eliminated by running barefoot instead.

rosser 9y ago
You're right. Thanks. Pushing off with the heel is actually specifically (if indirectly) part of what I'm working on with the bodyworker I mentioned, even. I really should have completed the thought. Thanks for catching and clarifying that.
- WalterSear 9y ago
  Oh, another thing: $20 water shoes last only slightly less long than $100+ speciality 'barefoot' running shoes. :) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Z7EOK8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Z7EOK8/ref=oh_aui_deta...
  - lardo 9y ago
    Why not make your own? ^_^ http://barefootted.com/sandals.pdf http://barefootted.com/sandals.pdf
  - quickben 9y ago
    Not really true. I used to go through Walmart's $20 a pair a month walking. $60-$160 shoes I usually do 400 km running on them. 90+kg here.
  - freehunter 9y ago
    They might last as long, but do they work the same? I have $5 socks that outlast my shoes, but socks aren't exactly a replacement for shoes, right? Water shoes and barefoot running shoes seem like two different types of foot covering.
    - WalterSear 9y ago
      They work the same. The entirely flexible sole is the key.
e12e 9y ago
Do you have some more information on this? Are you talking about running on paved road, or in (rough) terrain? I admit I have some difficulty visualizing how you combine landing on the ball of your foot with pushing off with the heel (so I at least agree that it doesn't feel natural :-).
- WalterSear 9y ago
  I'm definitely no expert, I'm afraid. Perhaps others can chime in. But notice how, in this gif, the maximum force is applied just as the heel starts to lift: https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-05-2014/hQcYHP.gif https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-05-2014/hQcYHP.gif I think it's hard to imagine in part because it involves such a radical shift in the center of gravity, bringing the body over the knee, so the foot can act as a springy lever, minimizing the impact of your heel on the ground. http://www.barefootbruce.com/images/100_Barefoot_Biomechanics_Clip_04.gif http://www.barefootbruce.com/images/100_Barefoot_Biomechanic... It's also something I found >literally< impossible to do when I started, because in addition to the lack of knowledge, my tendons and muscles had never performed the motion before. So, please be careful anyone who tries to pick this up, and don't overdo it until you are limber and strong enough in the small stability muscles of your feet. But >do< pick it up. Such a more efficient, and less painful way to run.
  - e12e 9y ago
    Thanks, that makes a lot more sense.
  - rosser 9y ago
    It might be clearer phrased as pushing through the heel, instead of off it. Or maybe that just makes it worse. It's a bit in the vein of riding a bike: you can't very easily explain it to someone who's never done it; with sufficient practice, the right neurons will just start hanging out together at some point and then it's pretty much automatic.
icantdrive55 9y ago
I kinda get the "evolution-barefoot" hypothesis. That said, we weren't designed to run on concrete? When I was younger, I ran toes-to heel, in the 80's. I just thought it made the most sense. I had an accident where I shaved all the skin off my Achilles' tendon. I also shaved off 1/4 of my Achilles' tendon. That ended my running style, along with 20 lbs of fat. Now my sister was just running around a baseball diamond when her achilles tendon snapped. She told me she was mimicking my running style. She just heard a pop, and felt no pain until she got up. My point is I don't know if they have definitively figured out the best running footware, or even technique. I will say this, gaining weight was the worst thing I ever did for my runnng. Just a few pounds, really ended my running. (On a plus, when I walk now, I'm carrying around a sack of potatoes. I still get that running high. I do need to walk up hills though. )
peterwwillis 9y ago
Or, don't push off with your heel, if that's more natural to you and is what your body is conditioned for.
ak217 9y ago
I've been running recreationally since high school, I average about 20 miles/week, an even mix of road/trail. I'm also a bit heavier than a typical avid recreational runner, putting more stress on my legs and feet. Having gone through a variety of shoes, I'd like to caution people about the minimalistic shoe trend, especially if you run mostly on pavement. It's true that overly cushioned shoes can cause heel strike and poor form. But switching to ultralight shoes can cause much worse problems. Ultralights provide little/no lateral/pronation support, increase exposure to rolling and road hazards due to the more flexible sole, more easily pinch nerves and ligaments on the top of the foot, and make it harder to relax your leg muscles (increasing the likelihood of irritated ligaments and cramped muscles). If ultralight shoes work for you, that's great. But if you're a casual runner, I would urge you to visit a good running store that analyzes your gait, and try on a variety of models. Many shoe makers assume a particular shape of foot. You need to try a number of shoes to see which ones fit you best. Don't try to pick the most or least cushioned shoe based on some mantra you've heard. Also, "pushing off with your heel" is not a thing. It's impossible to finish the liftoff from the heel while running. You can talk about the angle at which most of the liftoff force is delivered, or whether the heel descends to contact the ground at all (vs. running on your toes), but you don't push off with your heel while running. P.S. The biggest improvements to my running (aside from switching from ultralight back to stability shoes) came from joining a running club, and from buying a Garmin GPS watch and tracking my workouts against my friends from the club on Strava. So the only premise in the article that I agree with is that treadmills are silly :)
- rosser 9y ago
  > Also, "pushing off with your heel" is not a thing. It's imprecise language, to be sure. I think it's more about where you're concentrating the force. If you look at the .gif that 'WalterSear shared down-thread, you'll see that the greatest force is just before the heel lifts, not after. That's the difference, I think, between "pushing off" with the heel or the forefoot: where, specifically, in the stride the maximum force is applied.
  - sillysaurus3 9y ago
    So can anyone sum up what the right way to run is?

rosser 9y ago

You're right. Thanks. Pushing off with the heel is actually specifically (if indirectly) part of what I'm working on with the bodyworker I mentioned, even. I really should have completed the thought. Thanks for catching and clarifying that.

WalterSear 9y ago
Oh, another thing: $20 water shoes last only slightly less long than $100+ speciality 'barefoot' running shoes. :) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Z7EOK8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002Z7EOK8/ref=oh_aui_deta...
- lardo 9y ago
  Why not make your own? ^_^ http://barefootted.com/sandals.pdf http://barefootted.com/sandals.pdf
- quickben 9y ago
  Not really true. I used to go through Walmart's $20 a pair a month walking. $60-$160 shoes I usually do 400 km running on them. 90+kg here.
- freehunter 9y ago
  They might last as long, but do they work the same? I have $5 socks that outlast my shoes, but socks aren't exactly a replacement for shoes, right? Water shoes and barefoot running shoes seem like two different types of foot covering.
  - WalterSear 9y ago
    They work the same. The entirely flexible sole is the key.

e12e 9y ago

Do you have some more information on this? Are you talking about running on paved road, or in (rough) terrain? I admit I have some difficulty visualizing how you combine landing on the ball of your foot with pushing off with the heel (so I at least agree that it doesn't feel natural :-).

WalterSear 9y ago
I'm definitely no expert, I'm afraid. Perhaps others can chime in. But notice how, in this gif, the maximum force is applied just as the heel starts to lift: https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-05-2014/hQcYHP.gif https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-05-2014/hQcYHP.gif I think it's hard to imagine in part because it involves such a radical shift in the center of gravity, bringing the body over the knee, so the foot can act as a springy lever, minimizing the impact of your heel on the ground. http://www.barefootbruce.com/images/100_Barefoot_Biomechanics_Clip_04.gif http://www.barefootbruce.com/images/100_Barefoot_Biomechanic... It's also something I found >literally< impossible to do when I started, because in addition to the lack of knowledge, my tendons and muscles had never performed the motion before. So, please be careful anyone who tries to pick this up, and don't overdo it until you are limber and strong enough in the small stability muscles of your feet. But >do< pick it up. Such a more efficient, and less painful way to run.
- e12e 9y ago
  Thanks, that makes a lot more sense.
- rosser 9y ago
  It might be clearer phrased as pushing through the heel, instead of off it. Or maybe that just makes it worse. It's a bit in the vein of riding a bike: you can't very easily explain it to someone who's never done it; with sufficient practice, the right neurons will just start hanging out together at some point and then it's pretty much automatic.

icantdrive55 9y ago

I kinda get the "evolution-barefoot" hypothesis. That said, we weren't designed to run on concrete? When I was younger, I ran toes-to heel, in the 80's. I just thought it made the most sense. I had an accident where I shaved all the skin off my Achilles' tendon. I also shaved off 1/4 of my Achilles' tendon. That ended my running style, along with 20 lbs of fat. Now my sister was just running around a baseball diamond when her achilles tendon snapped. She told me she was mimicking my running style. She just heard a pop, and felt no pain until she got up. My point is I don't know if they have definitively figured out the best running footware, or even technique. I will say this, gaining weight was the worst thing I ever did for my runnng. Just a few pounds, really ended my running. (On a plus, when I walk now, I'm carrying around a sack of potatoes. I still get that running high. I do need to walk up hills though. )

peterwwillis 9y ago

Or, don't push off with your heel, if that's more natural to you and is what your body is conditioned for.

ak217 9y ago

I've been running recreationally since high school, I average about 20 miles/week, an even mix of road/trail. I'm also a bit heavier than a typical avid recreational runner, putting more stress on my legs and feet. Having gone through a variety of shoes, I'd like to caution people about the minimalistic shoe trend, especially if you run mostly on pavement. It's true that overly cushioned shoes can cause heel strike and poor form. But switching to ultralight shoes can cause much worse problems. Ultralights provide little/no lateral/pronation support, increase exposure to rolling and road hazards due to the more flexible sole, more easily pinch nerves and ligaments on the top of the foot, and make it harder to relax your leg muscles (increasing the likelihood of irritated ligaments and cramped muscles). If ultralight shoes work for you, that's great. But if you're a casual runner, I would urge you to visit a good running store that analyzes your gait, and try on a variety of models. Many shoe makers assume a particular shape of foot. You need to try a number of shoes to see which ones fit you best. Don't try to pick the most or least cushioned shoe based on some mantra you've heard. Also, "pushing off with your heel" is not a thing. It's impossible to finish the liftoff from the heel while running. You can talk about the angle at which most of the liftoff force is delivered, or whether the heel descends to contact the ground at all (vs. running on your toes), but you don't push off with your heel while running. P.S. The biggest improvements to my running (aside from switching from ultralight back to stability shoes) came from joining a running club, and from buying a Garmin GPS watch and tracking my workouts against my friends from the club on Strava. So the only premise in the article that I agree with is that treadmills are silly :)

rosser 9y ago
> Also, "pushing off with your heel" is not a thing. It's imprecise language, to be sure. I think it's more about where you're concentrating the force. If you look at the .gif that 'WalterSear shared down-thread, you'll see that the greatest force is just before the heel lifts, not after. That's the difference, I think, between "pushing off" with the heel or the forefoot: where, specifically, in the stride the maximum force is applied.
- sillysaurus3 9y ago
  So can anyone sum up what the right way to run is?