nature runner wrote:miker
nature runner said:
miker said:
I was wondering...do the health benefits come from mid/forefoot strike vs. heel strike, or do they come from being totally barefoot vs. any type of footwear?
I found a little info for you.
http://jerickweb.50webs.com/goodlife/Barefoot.htm it doesn't say alot about running but good info just the same.
NR, it is good info. Thanks for sharing it with me. But what I was wondering, is if the ailments that many here have dealt with when shod (pf, shin splints, sore knees, sore hips, etc.) are because of footwear in general OR because of foam, heel drops, etc.
For example. If a person decided to quit wearing TRS, and start wearing VFFs, and IF they took it slowly, to avoid TMTS, would it be effective? Because moving to minimal would cause the midfoot/forefoot landing to occur, thus eliminating the heel strike. And if I understand correctly, heel striking is the main culprit with injury. But if someone was able to wear footwear with zero (or minimal) heel drop, over time their achilles would stretch and their calf muscles would strengthen. And if they went really minimal, they could get a shoe that would exercise the foot muscles, right?
I am not saying that any minimal is the same as bf, but I also believe that we are not going to change the world overnight (better give us 2 nights
). But if we could get people started slowly in something that would help the strengthening process, over the long term they would be able to convert to bf, if they wanted to.
I agree that going barefoot from the get go is best, but I don't believe the masses are ready for that yet. So I'm looking for a place to start, and I was looking for some input from this group.
Cheers,
miker