Medical Article: The Bare Facts of Barefoot Running

[buzzie]

My Sports Ortho shared this link to the American Medical Society of Sports Medicine's newsletter... check out the article on Page 2.

www.amssm.org/NewsletterPDFS/November2011-33.pdf

Summary:

Barefoot running appears to offer some benefits along with some risks vs. shod running. Barefoot isn't bad - it may not be for everybody, but it might be appropriate for some. Overall, the jury is still out - not enough research yet.

 

[JosephTree]

Good article!  Much better

Good article! Much better balance and gets extra points for challenging vocabulary.

I squirmed a little at the conclusion when the question asked was "should runners retrain to BF style?" How about newbies? Maybe nobody should be mis-trained to run in shoes to start with!

 

[stomper]

The conclusion shows

The conclusion shows progress:

"Until [more studies about comparative injury rates are done], inform patients who demonstrate adequate strength and balance they can give barefoot running a simple trial if they feel the urge. Ensure they have the right expectations before starting however, and realize it may not be the end-all for injury prevention."

Notice how much more reasonable this statement is than we would have read just a few months ago. Nothing about the horrors of pea size gravel, no threatening prohibitions like "it is only for patients who are biomechanically perfect".

Perceptions of this are changing very quickly.

The only issue I have with the article is that it considers wearing "flexible footwear similar to moccasins" barefoot running. Which we've explored a lot on these forums, I know. Perhaps for the current discussion in the media that simplification is acceptable, but I think ultimately somewill will find some medical difference. I know in minimal shoes I can push harder, be a bit more reckless, and then I tend to pay for it later. That's a difference I can feel.

 

[buzzie]

stomper wrote:...The only

...

The only issue I have with the article is that it considers wearing "flexible footwear similar to moccasins" barefoot running. Which we've explored a lot on these forums, I know. Perhaps for the current discussion in the media that simplification is acceptable, but I think ultimately somewill will find some medical difference. I know in minimal shoes I can push harder, be a bit more reckless, and then I tend to pay for it later. That's a difference I can feel.

And this is a point I've taken the time to make with the Sports Ortho who shared this article with me. It ain't barefoot unless it's nekkid! And nekkid is ENTIRELY different than not.
I've found the glove analogy helpful in this regard - and, folks seem to get it.