Barefoot Running
by diywealth on Feb.28, 2010, under diy
Barefoot running is being widely touted as a healthy and natural alternative to runner in the more expensive running shoes. It is claimed that there is nothing much to be gained by the use of the more expensive running shoes over no shoes or a cheaper alternative. There is no research that supports the benefits of running shoes, but there is also no research that shoes that they are harmful. There is a growing anti-running shoe movement that considers running shoes to be harmful.
A large part if this anti-barefoot group make up the barefoot running movement. They claim many benefits of barefoot running. These claims include increased strength of the foot and leg muscles; improved gait or running biomechanics and a reduction in the number of overuse injuries that are so common in runners. They also like to point at that barefoot running is more natural and we were born to run barefoot (they also forget that we were also bon with no clothes on as well!).
Critics of the barefoot running movement like to point out the lack of evidence for the claims that the barefoot running community make. There is no evidence to support any of the claims. The barefoot runners are somewhat irrational in their support of barefoot running and tend t react in an adverse way when the lack of evidence is pointed out to them. They point to what they claims is a lot of research that supports what they are doing, but on a critical analysis of the claims, it does not support it.
