The UK newspaper, the Daily Express published an article about barefoot running today. In some ways it was quite comical: the writer starts off by saying, “My first barefoot run is on a freezing cold winter’s day along the icy path that cuts its way through a south London common. I’m wearing a pair of VivoBarefoot Aqua shoes with just a 3mm strip of rubber between me and the ground”. Not quite barefoot then.
What was interesting was the quote of research as follows: “… a study in the journal for the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that running in trainers increased stress on the hips by 54 per cent and on the knees by up to 38 per cent, compared with running in bare feet.”
I’ve not yet checked out the study directly, but these appear to be significant findings indeed. I guess most barefoot runners will not be surprised by this because they know how running barefoot encourages a more ‘body friendly’ gait. I was particularly interested by the reference to the hips as this is a common problem area for runners with biomechanical peculiarities — i.e. most of us.
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