Can a barefoot life style improve a spinal injury????

HELLO OUT THERE I NEED SOME INPUT PLEASE:

I have very flat feet used to be a runner but due to my heel to toe syle of running caused my spine to be pounded into pieces. IF ONLY you guys were around about 6 yrs ago I would be so much better off. I first read about you guys in the NYT and it was there I was reminded of my years competing w/NO shoes in fact nothing more than a Speedo as I competed in the Iron Man for the Int'l Surf Festival in L.A. County. The idea of not always landing on the heel to prevent shock up the spine is a sound one. I need to retrain myself plus get my feet used to the cold.
I went barefoot all summer and my feet got to feeling that they needed to avoid shoes no even flip flops. My entire health improved overall. So I need some advice about leading a more barefoot lifestyle but w/out running unless I can learn to run w/out any impact. NOTE: using the balls of one's feet to walk or run makes one completely silent when moving and one appears much more graceful.

Comments

Blind Boy
If you need advice about a barefoot lifestyle Isuggest checking out Society for Barefoot Living: http://www.barefooters.org/

Running without impact is hard though but it's possible. As long as you bend your knees, straighten your torso and relax you'll reduce any impact by a lot. I think it would be hard to give more specific advice than that because of your injury. What might work for the rest of us may not work for you. You'll have to find your limits and see what your body is capable of.
 
Barefoot TJ
Take a friend of family member with you. Go for a very short distance. Be sure that where you run you can get back to your car without too much taxing on your body. See how it feels. Don't try to go fast, and don't try to go farther than what your body says you should go. You have probably lost a lot of muscle in your back along your spine, so it will take time to rebuild those muscles, but once you do, there should be less pain in your back, since we all know that a strong back will support your spine much better than a weak one. Good luck, and keep us posted on how you progress. -TJ
 
Danjo
All the barefoot walking you've been doing has probably brought you a long way towards proper running form, more than you might expect. I'd suggest walking as much as you have time for, I even need to start walking barefoot a lot more myself, I always seem to have trouble if I don't spend some time walking or running barefoot every day (just moving around the house doesn't seem to count for a whole lot.) As far as running, you don't have to if you don't want to, and its probably best that you be very careful, but if you do try running, go a very short distance, and try to run the way you walk barefoot. There is very little impact involved in barefoot running, simply because it will hurt your feet to land hard at all. Try looking up therunningbarefoot.com if you want some good info about running bare.
 

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