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Tracy Stewart

Feeling the grass between your toes

The benefits of barefoot running

For many runners, the sensation of their feet as they pound the pavement evokes a primal feeling. So much so that some people even do it barefoot.

Ingrid Christensen, a Calgary painter, ditched her runners after suffering from chronic knee pain. “I thought I would have to give up running,” she says.

In the past she sought physiotherapy for her pain. But after hearing about barefoot running on the radio, Christensen decided to give it a try.

Wearing only thin water shoes to simulate the barefoot condition, Christensen found her knee pain was alleviated completely for the first time in a year.

The winter poses some difficulties for barefoot runners like Christensen. She improvised and began running in wool socks and slippers.

Studies are underway at the U of C biomechanics department exploring the impact of running barefoot.

Dr. Beno Nigg is the director of the Human Performance Lab at the U of C. One of the theories being examined is whether athletes are more or less prone to injury when running barefoot.

The results aren’t yet conclusive. Nigg’s study suggests development of small muscle groups in the ankle occurs more often during barefoot running.

Other findings from Dr. Nigg’s research indicate an athlete may consume oxygen at different, possibly more efficient rates when running barefoot. This varies depending the type of surface the athlete runs on encounters such as concrete, a treadmill, grass or hard-packed dirt.

However, Dr. Reed Ferber, director of the U of C’s Running Injury Clinic, says most people who begin running barefoot lack the strength to stabilize their smaller foot muscle groups.

“Our patients when they come in have a lack of strength in their ankle muscles, so that’s why there’s an injury,” he says.

Although the clinic has patients who do practice barefoot running, Dr. Ferber doesn’t specialize in any research regarding the practice, but he did say he feels it’s too “pedantic.”

The non-shoe shoe

Barefoot product shoes have been on the market since the mid-60s. Nigg says these are interesting products and even beneficial to athletes in different areas of muscle development. But the shoe is still a shoe.

“The name ‘barefoot shoes’ is a contradiction in terms,” says Nigg. “A shoe condition is not a barefoot condition.

“To assume that these shoes correspond to barefoot running or moving is not appropriate and the name ‘barefoot shoes’ may well be more a marketing strategy than a functional name.”

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