A Sea Change Coming to Wash Your Shoes Away
I’m sure you’ve seen it. It’s all over the news. People are finally beginning to come around to that inconvenient truth about our feet, that dirty little secret that shoe companies would prefer to keep under wraps: barefoot is better.
There has been media coverage of the barefoot trend in the past, mostly intermittent, in running magazines and always taking a patronizing tone. It follows the same formula: more idle speculation on a bizarre fad that a select few crazies are promoting, with plenty of “balance” from stuffy foot specialists expressing doubt that the inherently fragile, gentle human foot could ever withstand the rigors of walking unshod without “serious injury,” than any serious consideration of the merits. But now we’ve got a nice, juicy study to hang our hats (or our shoes) on, and media outlets are falling over themselves to get the scoop.
Witness the Boston Globe’s take on the whole thing, or the LA Times feature. The Edmonton Journal got into the action, too, as did the Telegraph, while even San Jose’s Mercury News mentioned the study. The Popular Science blog did a piece on it. And of course, the rest of the blogosphere picked up on it, too: Open Water Chicago, Conditioning Research, and the Chi Running blog, to name just a few.
The study in question was Harvard evolutionary biologist Daniel Lieberman’s on “Foot strike patterns and collision forces in habitually barefoot versus shod runners.” (See comparison videos below. The difference between shod heel strike running and barefoot forefoot strike running is visually and graphically captured. For more on what you’re seeing check out NPR’s coverage.) It’s hard to believe that this is the first study of its kind, though, probably because it actually isn’t. Last year, researchers ran a similar study and decided that “Footwear Alters Normal Form and Function of the Foot” by exerting acute pressure to sensitive areas of the foot, whereas barefoot walkers enjoyed wider forefeet and more evenly distributed locomotive stress. Interesting, but probably because it didn’t make any bold pronouncements and because it dealt with the relatively mundane act of walking (rather than running), the study didn’t get any press. They could have recommended people throw off their shoes, but that wouldn’t be prudent. It wouldn’t be responsible. I can’t fault them for that, really. Researchers need funding, and you don’t want to make bold pronouncements if it means getting cut off or reprimanded. Unfortunately, scientists need to be bold to effect real change.
Even when the “experts” get it so, so right, they do their best to get it wrong in the end, or they hedge their bets and stick with the safe answer, rather than question Conventional Wisdom entirely (even if the data contradicts CW directly). I’m reminded of when Gary Taubes famously lamented a similar mindset in physicians and obesity researchers who, although they understood (and even witnessed in a clinical setting) the chronic insulin/body fat connection, continued to recommend the standard low-fat, high-carb, low-calorie diet to their patients. They connect all the dots, but fail to see the bigger picture clearly outlined by those dots. To their credit, though, researchers can and do make sensible recommendations within the context of Conventional Wisdom. The researchers from that walking study did ultimately call for the design of “quality footwear” that doesn’t “hamper the foot’s biologically normal function.” Better than nothing, I suppose.
Now, even though I agree with Lieberman’s conclusions (actually, because I’m such a huge fan of barefoot), it pays to be critical. I know Lieberman has affiliations with Vibram – in fact, he may have even helped them design the Fivefingers – and that they probably funded the study, and I know that we hem, haw, and cast skeptical eyes on Pfizer when they fund yet another statin paper. There’s a major difference between the two, though: Lieberman is right. His data is strong. He isn’t hiding anything or fudging the results. We’re right. Barefoot is better. There’s no shame in that, you know – being right. There are objective truths out there, and the objective truth is that most people aren’t born with genetically defective feet. Everyone’s imperfect, sure, but for the most part we’ve all got the same basic equipment with the same basic biomechanics working under the hood. Unless you have a birth defect, no one is born with feet that “won’t work right” or that “require shoes”. The flat footed (no arch) argument doesn’t stand up as an excuse, except when you’ve already spent a lifetime coddling your feet in supportive casts. A cautionary word that anyone transitioning to a barefoot lifestyle should take it VERY easy at first.
There was one more response to the barefoot running study that bears mentioning: Brooks (world famous running shoe company) CEO Jim Weber’s scrambling blog post. You know – I feel for the guy. It’s gotta be tough to make a reasonable response to a scientifically sound piece of research that refutes almost everything you’ve built your business on. I mean, what is he supposed to do? Admit that he’s been wrong this whole time? Admit that his shoes are basically coffins for the feet? Naturally, he goes with the entirely unsubstantiated claim that the “vast majority of runners” should race “in a performance running shoe, not barefoot.” Apparently, we barefooters are a genetically gifted breed of athlete who are “biomechanically blessed” with “natural healthy gaits.” Hmm. So, the natural, normal gait is actually somehow rare and precious. It doesn’t occur naturally. Got it. Jim, did you ever stop to think why so many of your runners seem to lack that natural healthy gait? Perhaps it’s the shoes. Our “unique biomechanical needs” are only unique because we’ve been smashing, smushing, and confining our feet to too-small, too-constrictive, too-structured footwear for years. Check out your comments section, dude. The people have spoken. You can’t ignore anecdotal evidence pouring in from all sides forever.
I eagerly await your upcoming, inevitable barefoot-analogous running shoe model.
When the CEO of a major running shoe company makes a public acknowledgment, that’s a sign. A sea change is undoubtedly occurring here, folks. The media may help spur things along, but they’re just reporting what’s really happening out there. If there wasn’t a massive audience for the barefoot message present and willing to get out there and experiment for themselves, there’d be no story. Just check out the comment sections for all the blogs and all the newspaper articles dealing with the study. In previous barefoot articles, most of the comments were either dubious or dismissive of the “fad”; now, the naysayers clinging to their Nikes are being drowned out by barefoot evangelists. I applaud them.
You’re part of what made this possible. Now, let’s hope the rest of the Primal Blueprint gains some ground out there!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
My PT has been working with me to fix problems in my Achilles tendons. The latest exercise is a sort of long-hop/walk. I automatically tried to land more on my midfoot than my heel, and she immediately corrected me “this exercise shoud mimic jogging, you land on your heel”. Ugh! No thanks…jogging and landing on my heel is one of the ways I messed up my AT’s!
She disapproves of my VFF’s, but my podiatrist likes them.
I don’t get the shoe hate. Can’t you just use shoes but make sure to land on the ball of your foot instead of the heel?
*shrug*
I received this email from Tony Post, the President & CEO of Vibram. I told him I’d post it here to clear up any confusion this post may have caused regarding the relationship between Vibram and Dr. Lieberman.
Hi Mark,
Hope you are well. I just read your February 3 blog post about barefoot running and the buzz created by the Lieberman research. A very enjoyable read, thanks for publishing. Just to help with the accuracy of your post, I thought I would drop you this note.
The original Vibram FiveFingers concept was created by our team in Italy between 2003-5. A year or two before, a young industrial designer named Robert Fliri proposed the idea of FiveFingers (not originally the name) to Marco Bramani, grandson of Vibram Founder Vitale Bramani. Together, with a larger team from Vibram Italy, they collaborated to make what is now known as the FiveFingers Classic. Vibram USA got involved in late 2005. We helped to slightly modify that original design, then created an unconventional marketing plan that positioned the product for running and fitness. We then developed a business plan, intellectual property, marketing, and expanded the original item into a range of products that would better serve the concept and consumer need. Today, the business is managed in a collaborative manner between Vibram SpA in Italy, and Vibram USA in Concord, MA.
As a runner and fitness enthusiast myself, I saw and experienced the potential benefits of the product early on. When we were starting this work, I had knee surgery and was no longer able to run as I always had – heel striking in running shoes. Personal research and a few friends recommendations led me to consider barefoot running. At the time, I didn’t know much about it, and it seemed a bit extreme and impractical living in New England. But by March of 2006, desperate for a solution, I decided to try running in a prototype of Vibram’s new invention — FiveFingers. Immediately, I found I could no longer heel strike comfortably, that I had to land on my forefoot. And in that first 7 mile run, landing with a forefoot strike, I ran without the usual knee pain I had been experiencing. Halfway through that run I realized we had something special. We launched the product 6 weeks later at the Boston Marathon.
By late 2007, with growing consumer acceptance and a business that was taking off (we had 4 styles, a developing position in minimalist running, and our sales had just tripled), I contacted Dr. Dan Lieberman. As a user, I knew inherently what was going on, but I also knew we needed scientific research to understand it better. I had read some of Dan’s work and knew he was a biological anthropologist at Harvard with an interest/background in running research. But I didn’t know he was already studying barefoot running. We soon found out that Dan was interested in some of the same things we were, and by the winter of 2008 we started to discuss a research project he had in mind.
We have always been very transparent about the fact we helped support some of the research. From some of the recent blogs I have read, a few folks might be ‘suspicious’ of our relationship, this is how I usually reply:
Vibram USA supported this research via a gift to Harvard in accordance with Harvard’s rules on sponsored research. These rules prohibit Vibram from having any influence over the research, including the nature of the experiments and analyses, how and where the data are published, and what is published. Furthermore, Dan Lieberman receives no financial compensation of any sort for from Vibram USA.
The NATURE paper compares the impact transients of runners wearing shoes to those of barefoot runners. It does not promote running in FiveFingers.
Before it’s publication in NATURE, the research had to go through extensive academic peer review. This isn’t just Dan’s point of view, it’s now accepted science at several top universities around the world.
The research has serious implications in the field of public health — our consumers and doubters have been asking for information. Fundamentally, if we can make running safer, we can help keep people active, reduce medical costs, potentially reduce the rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. I think Dan is a little more focused on the big picture here.
It took about 18 months and lots of work from Dan and his team, but the information does help explain some important things.
I’m sure this will continue to be a controversial topic, and I hope it will lead to more research and more healthy solutions in the future. We believe quite genuinely in the benefits of running barefoot or in minimalist footwear, but we try not to “preach.” In the end, most folks will do what feels right for them. As I often say to myself when I’m tired, uninspired, or just don’t feel like running — “just get out the door and start moving, you’ll feel better.” And I always do.
Anyway, now you have a little more of the story. I hope this helps.
Growing up in the mountains I wore shoes only when I went into town. I use to hike for hours barefoot, and while I occasionally got cuts my feet were otherwise strong and healthy. It has been very hard adjusting to living in a place where it is unsafe to walk my dog without shoes on (crack needle/glass/used condoms/my neighborhood is dirty). I’m glad to see some support though. Now when I go hiking and my husband starts to warn me about the dangers of bare feet, I will have evidence that I’m not just a crazy daughter of country hippies.
I have been happy with Steger mukluks for many years now. I think they could be useful for many people dealing with extreme snow and cold. You have a lot of control about how much space you want to have around your feet, and how much padding you have under them. http://www.mukluks.com I’m so grateful I read everything you had to say about feet! Everything I thought was wrong about my feet turns out to be right!
I am an Asian woman, 29 years old, 115 lbs. I’ve been a runner all my life. I grew up in a shoeless household. I have *very* flat feet. My ankles practically sit on the ground. At 18 years old, my feet started hurting too much so I got insoles that I wore only in my Mizuno’s/New Balance or Saucony’s when I ran. My legs are fit but crooked because of my wonky feet (and now ankles). I want to get VFF’s but my question is: WHAT ABOUT ABSORPTION? If there is no cushioning on the bottom to pick up the shock and impact of each time your foot hits the ground, how can the VFF’s be good for your knees?
Thanks!!
C Diaz of Victoria, BC
If you think that the 1″ of foam under your heel is going to absorb heel-strike, you’re wrong. Landing fore-foot allows your legs to act like a piston, absorbing shock through lateral motion and without transferring shock up your legs and into your knees and hips. From another Victoria runner, I am once again able to run along Dallas rd, but now without knee and hip pain, which just about took me out of running altogether.
Ahh… I see. So, the thinking is that big, cushioned running shoes cause us to heel strike? I tried running barefoot on a treadmill today and it seems I still heel strike. Any tips on how to train my foot to forefoot strike more?
Not to sound like “I was cool before it was cool guy” but I have been wearing Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars for years based on the theory that flat is more natural. I wear them at the gym and for everyday use (I’m not a slave to fashion). They’re relatively inexpensive so I own several colors of both low and high tops. I’ve also started wearing skate type shoes like the Gates. Skater shoes are also flat and, for me anyways, they feel natural and comfortable. Man was not meant to wear heels! And the women in heels thing is just bizarre!
Here in Japan I buy canvas work shoes, $3 a pair.
To C Diaz, the shock is greater with cushioned shoes.
Would love to get Vibram FiveFingers but couldn’t put them on as the last 2 fingers are linked together on my foot with some skin (like a birth defect…)
I ran forefoot strike since I can remember, in any shoe I had. But I rarely ran on flat, concrete/tarmac surfaces, usually forests, mountains, fields. I think that’s the key.
Before I began practicing yoga, thus becoming more foot conscience, my feet were very flat. Almost no arch at all! As I began STRENGTHING my feet through yoga and being barefoot more often, I started seeing an arch form! The shoes that had always bound me had caused the muscles in my feet to atrophy. So, ditch the shoes, and let your God-given muscles work!!
I LOVE that my wide feet are so openly accepted in the barefoot community! Special thanks to my friend for getting me started on this! I just started frunning with my fivefingers last Friday, so I’m still transitioning, but SO looking forward to becoming stronger!
I’m sorry, I grew up in the mountains of East Tennessee. Is this ‘running without shoes’ something new you are speaking of? I’ve always thought of shoes as something evil that was forced upon us by the city folk.
Distance runners – there’s nothing superhuman or talented about the Kenyans. Forget altitude too. >60% of the reason (of many – all lifestyle related) why they’re so far ahead of the white man is that (in rural areas) they spend all their childhood with no shoes. Walking on hard, stony dirt tracks; progressing to running on them.
The point here isn’t that they develop high arches in doing so, or tough feet. Or that it’s better to be materially impoverished (not spiritually though, more importantly); simple & uneducated. It’s that Africans learn to engage their glutes from an early age – even if they wear shoes nowadays they still know how to walk & run properly. Meanwhile us white runners have tree trunk hamstrings & no arse, no wonder we’re injured all the time & far slower.
This link I came across might shed a bit of light on it: http://www.easyvigour.net.nz/fitness/h_gluteus_max_ap.htm
Just food for thought. And no – Brook’s shoe companies or capitalism are not evil, they’re just natural progressions of human thought & innovation. But let’s just say: some things are best left in their primitive states. Great blog Mark (which has evolved into a chat room!).
I think vibram fivefingers has a very very cool that just looking at the appearance of wears out,amazing footwear!!
I think vibram fivefingers has a very very cool that just looking at the appearance of wears out,amazing footwear!!http://www.vibramwebsite.com
Fully agree with you Mark. However, all the barefoot evangelists fail to take into account the highly UNNATURAL modern world we live in. Grass, sand, soil is kind to feet compared to asphalt and concrete. Could you imagine being barefoot in New York City or at a local bar and somehow NOT go home bleeding?? It’s not practical to be barefoot in the modern world. It’s downright dangerous.
I’ve been running exclusively in VFF for two years now, mostly road running with distances up to 19 miles, so you can be assured that I am not a barefoot running skeptic. That said, I must say that the two videos linked here are not only unconvincing, they actually seem to support the shod running. The plots shown under the videos display force on the y-axis. The shod runner maxes out at a force of about 2.4X body weight while the barefoot runner maxes out around 2.6X body weight. Assuming the same runner (and hence mass) for both runners, this means the acceleration is 8.5% higher on average for the barefoot strike. The foam shoes appears to spread the acceleration our over a longer period of time, resulting in less force transmitted to the runner.
Really, and I think some others have noted this point, the issue comes down to whether running on the toes is better for the legs. If so, barefoot running is good because it encourages that type of strike. Barefoot vs. shod, on the other hand, is less relevant. One might do better with a good bit of foam up front and no heel padding.
Very cool. I have both the KSOs and the Sprints. I run in them all the time on both road and trail, speed and distance. Best “shoes” I’ve ever run in.http://www.vibramwebsite.com
I had to use orthodics for years because my ankles constantly hurt after playing sports.
Then I started martial arts practicing martial arts and kettlebell training barefoot. Within a few weeks my ankle alignment improved and I no longer even think about using orthodics!
My feet and ankles just had to get strong.
I’ve been “toe striking” for the past month or so in shoes to get my legs warmed up (and get past the microwaved calf feeling) and just started running unshod this week.
AND I LOVE IT.
Been wearing sandals my entire life. Keep it up everyone!
This is a perfect walking shoe for summer. It is light, has plenty of toe room and looks good.
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side of the shoes, which would instantly throw off the delicate balance designed into such high-quality running shoes. One can easily conclude that the duct tape was a statistically significan
If barefoot is so great, why did even the Indians use footwear? The Woodland Indians wore soft-sole mocassins, while the Plains Indians developed hard-sole mocassins. I am an historical re-enactor of the mid-18th century and I used to wear soft-sole mocassins all the time, until I went on a 30-mile trek and ended up having to walk for about ten miles on gravel and rock. I damaged the nerves in the bottoms of my feet, and I still have numbness from it. Now I wear historically-correct boots or shoes. Of course, if we went barefoot from cradle to grave, like some native peoples do, we’d have enormous callouses to protect our feet; but I doubt that few in our culture have that opportunity. So, yeah, it’s fine to go barefoot when you can, but when the terrain gets hot (try walking barefoot across a hot parking lot), rocky, or thorny, give me my shoes or boots any day.
Once again, Grok is a crock.
I LOVE my VFF’s
I completed p90x barefoot and as a reward upon completion I purchased VFF’s to add running to my workouts when I began round 2 of p90x. A few weeks later I found out I was pregnant and could not continue with the regular workout routine… however, I do LOVE the VFF’s and wear them all day (most days) I found that my knee problems I had when running or even walking completely disappeared and the pain and numbness I was having in my toes from being scrunched up in regular running shoes was corrected almost immediately by having each toe free to move as it is in my VFF’s. I’m very happy and will continue to wear them throughout the pregnancy or at least until my feet are too swollen to fit into them, and you betcha.. I’m walking every day in them and can’t wait to get started on my workouts and running again. As a side note, we are an active family (husband has VFFs as well) and we thoroughly enjoyed wearing them on the river and hiking this summer. I’m so grateful to these shoes.. they are my favorites!
commercial today for a running shoe that gives a “mid foot strike” so now we know how the manufacturers are answering the research.
I’ve been wearing VFF’s at the gym for awhile. I mainly do calesthenics with them. Gone through about 100 sessions. They’re fantastic! I went out on a Friday night once, 3hours, was about 10 celcius … my feet were freezing.
I have some Soft Star leather lace ups, fantastic as regular shoe, but the not enough room at my big toe. I feel like sending them moldings of my feet to make a custom pair.
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