Dr. G's article just triggered the formation of a buttload of thoughts I've had bouncing around in my head about what I have always wanted to say to my shod friends -regarding their misgivings about the barefoot community. And...here it is!
I have observed that many people, in the shod running community, repeatedly misunderstand key issues, with regard to barefoot running/living.
With regard to health –physical, psychological, and spiritual- the majority of people I know highly value healthcare practices and practitioners who are interested in addressing the root cause of their ailments, rather than just treating the symptoms. Most people fully comprehend that if you choose to ignore the cause of a problem, and treat only the symptoms, this course of action will bite you in the butt -usually be causing a chain reaction of related issues! And yet –for a myriad of reasons- I see people time and time again choose to toss this very important concept out the window when it comes to the health of one’s foot! This is especially interesting considering the feet are responsible for the good health of so many bodily systems such as, musculoskeletal, neurological, and circulatory –to name a few.
Being barefoot is NOT a “be all end all” to problems associated with physical activity, rather, it is one of many highly effective tools for addressing the root cause of various problems –rather than continuing to just treat the symptoms! Going barefoot will frequently exacerbate an existing issue, or reveal an underlying issue –and this is a positive occurrence- because it allows you to find the source of the problem, which would otherwise be hidden by artificial implements. This in turn allows you to address the true cause of the problem.
Successfully transitioning to a barefoot running requires commitment, research, training, transition time, and cross-training –just like training for a marathon, learning how to mountain climb, or learning martial arts- it takes a lot of work and is not something that you can do in just a couple of months. People are under the impression that all barefoot runners just got up one day and ripped off their shoes and started running –if only it were that easy.
I think this article does an excellent job of expanding on these points.
http://sock-doc.com/2012/03/healthy-people-barefoot-people/
I have observed that many people, in the shod running community, repeatedly misunderstand key issues, with regard to barefoot running/living.
With regard to health –physical, psychological, and spiritual- the majority of people I know highly value healthcare practices and practitioners who are interested in addressing the root cause of their ailments, rather than just treating the symptoms. Most people fully comprehend that if you choose to ignore the cause of a problem, and treat only the symptoms, this course of action will bite you in the butt -usually be causing a chain reaction of related issues! And yet –for a myriad of reasons- I see people time and time again choose to toss this very important concept out the window when it comes to the health of one’s foot! This is especially interesting considering the feet are responsible for the good health of so many bodily systems such as, musculoskeletal, neurological, and circulatory –to name a few.
Being barefoot is NOT a “be all end all” to problems associated with physical activity, rather, it is one of many highly effective tools for addressing the root cause of various problems –rather than continuing to just treat the symptoms! Going barefoot will frequently exacerbate an existing issue, or reveal an underlying issue –and this is a positive occurrence- because it allows you to find the source of the problem, which would otherwise be hidden by artificial implements. This in turn allows you to address the true cause of the problem.
Successfully transitioning to a barefoot running requires commitment, research, training, transition time, and cross-training –just like training for a marathon, learning how to mountain climb, or learning martial arts- it takes a lot of work and is not something that you can do in just a couple of months. People are under the impression that all barefoot runners just got up one day and ripped off their shoes and started running –if only it were that easy.
I think this article does an excellent job of expanding on these points.
http://sock-doc.com/2012/03/healthy-people-barefoot-people/
