Minimalist Running.

[RangerDanger830]

I'm an avid runner, when not cycling co pounds that give me pumps, terrible. I run in lightweight running shoes like most, that is my preference.
I also own a pair of Fila tennis shoes that have distinct toes. A hybrid toe shoe. The I own the vibram toe shoes. I also run in combat boots from time to time.

I find tennis shoes are the most balanced footwear for working my legs while running. Boots seems to be calf and tibialis anterior muscle heavy. The Filas aren't much different than my running shoes. The vibrams are very calf heavy and very impact heavy.

Overall, I hate the vibrams, I like the Filas and running shoes. And I like the boots but in moderation. My goal isn't to run marathons. I'm more of a practical runner. I like to run in the mountains while hiking and rock climbing.

Some people run barefoot on the treadmill and ground. This seems absolutely terrible to be. It just seems too hard on our bodies.

Are there anyone who supports this minimalist style and can you explain why you choose to support it?

[Mr.BB]

Have ran up to 10kms with vibrams, really need to slowly increase mileage with minimalistic shoes.

The reason I started running with these was to make lower leg stronger, and it works if you manage not to injury yourself lol

My running days are over, nowadays use the vibrams for leg day

[RangerDanger830]

Have ran up to 10kms with vibrams, really need to slowly increase mileage with minimalistic shoes. The reason I started running with these was to make lower leg stronger, and it works if you manage not to injury yourself lol My running days are over, nowadays use the vibrams for leg day

I learned that the hard way. Ran a 10k right off the bat when I first got them like an idiot. I was so sore I couldn't walk the next day.

[Mitch535]

I am a barefoot runner. Well, I was before I got old enough to respect the soles of my feet enough to buy a pair of vibrams.

Our bodies are designed to be barefoot. We aren't born in shoes. The problem is that we spend the majority of our life in shoes and so we learn to walk the wrong way. The reason you find barefoot running to be impact heavy is because your foot is landing the same way it lands in shoes. Shoes absorb that impact, and you don't really notice it. Shoes cause most of us to land heel-toe, but this isn't the way that our bodies were designed for locomotion and it is certainly not the way that the foot was designed to absorb impact.

Spend enough time running barefoot and you'll find that it doesn't have to be uncomfortable. Matter of fact, I prefer barefoot running because my body feels much better after a run if I do run minimalist. When your foot lands, it should land around the ball of your foot, toes slightly up, heel off the ground. As the impact results, the toes meet the ground and the heel lands shortly after. This absorbs the impact of the step and prepares for the next movement. There is an incredible amount of information on the web about proper footstrike, and a little research will provide plenty of reasons to consider evaluating your footstrike if you are a heelstrike runner. Obviously, teaching your body to run differently is going to take time and practice. You'll likely have to take it slow. If you don't have proper hip flexion, running with a forefoot strike is going to cause you to overextend and make your running more tiresome.

Running barefoot on a treadmill? Not sure how I feel about that. A treadmill with zero incline is already bad on the body in my opinion, as it practically forces you to heel strike and is high impact. I can see barefoot running with some incline on a treadmill, but nothing beats running on bare ground, especially on a nice winding trail on a sunny day. Like you, I am very active outdoors. I hike, rock climb, and cave regularly (I'm a caver first and foremost. I cave nearly every weekend. That is where my passion lies). I live in the foothills of North Georgia so there is no shortage of wonderful trails to run.

[Splifton]

I have always ran with shoes that provided the least amount of structural support. In soccer our coach would have us play barefoot to help accentuate the need to properly kick the soccer ball with the right region of the foot. As a result it lead to the tendency for me to run with a forefoot step.

Anything with heels gets in the way and starts to cause me to over stride and mess up my rhythm for maintaining adequate hip extension. In regards to the highest amount of biomechanical strain and initial impact, the practice maintaining a lesser degree with your heel toe ramp leads to a increase in your cadence of your stride, but can shorten the length of the stride. I've found contradicting information though highlighting that the region of your initial impact isn't revelant, but more so the location of the hips above the impact zones.

Any footstrike that is trying to be forced will undoubtedly lead to runner-related injuries. Here is a good study I've read.. Foot strike and injury rates in endurance runners: a retrospective study. - PubMed - NCBI

If you want the full article let me know and I can try to figure out someway of providing you with the PDF.

I have always supported a minimalist style to endurance running. I just believe that evolution has provided us with adaptations that facilitate a more natural biomechanical movement of our feet and anything that alters the natural function of the structure also alters the future development and equilibrium of our extrinsic/intrinsic muscles.

Like the saying about proteins in biology... protein form equals function. The shape of our foot is that way for a reason.