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barefoot running

Stearmann4

Stearmann4

I'm here for the Jeeehawd!
None
There's a fine line between hard and stupid. Wear shoes, or you can choose to pay for your out-of-the-box thinking when your 40. I learned the hard way two rules of running: wear proper footwear, and never run on sand unless you're forced to. It does allows horrible torsion movements of your knee and joints. First hand experience...
 
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foniks

Registered User
I know plenty of people who are over 40 and have run barefoot for most of their life. Hell, in the 70s, almost all your pro athletes did some form of barefoot running. It's definately "old school" and there isn't any evidence that running barefoot when you are young causes your feet to get bad when you are older. I think there is a lot of guesswork going on in this thread.

Has anyone here had any sort of track and cross country training? Highschool or college? We did barefoot running in both. I knew that not everyone advocated barefoot running, but I didn't know it was viewed as "out-of-the-box thinking." I've never met a coach who was really against it. I only met coaches who didn't push the mindset that barefoot running was great.
 
Stearmann4

Stearmann4

I'm here for the Jeeehawd!
None
foniks said:
I know plenty of people who are over 40 and have run barefoot for most of their life. Hell, in the 70s, almost all your pro athletes did some form of barefoot running. It's definately "old school" and there isn't any evidence that running barefoot when you are young causes your feet to get bad when you are older.

Has anyone here had any sort of track and cross country training? Highschool or college? We did barefoot running in both. I knew that not everyone advocated barefoot running, but I didn't know it was viewed as "out-of-the-box thinking."
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True, there are athletes and coaches who have used barefoot training. However, the big difference between those disciplines and what we're discussing here, is that military running isn't generally professionally coached, nor is it conducted for a singular purpose as it would be by an athlete. Our goal is a form of running that will help a guy become athletically well-rounded and make it through some sort of stressful course such as OCS, BUD/s, etc. That type of running consists of formation runs on un-even surfaces, and bearing weight (equipment). Barefoot running won't help with any of that. Buy some properly fitting, good quality footwear, run on pavement or trails, and concentrate on increasing your anerobic capacity and cardio strength. What this kid is asking is what will make him most successful in his military training. Take your shoes off, wear a Speedo and Tevas...it's your call how you choose to train.

There are alot of opinions presented, however I can only attest to what I have observed from my own performance over the years and the 500+ BUD/s students I put through training with the associated lower extremeity injuries they sustained from trying "out-of-the-box" training methods in an effort to better prepare themselves.
 
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foniks

Registered User
Stearmann4 said:
True, there are athletes and coaches who have used barefoot training. However, the big difference between those disciplines and what we're discussing here, is that military running isn't generally professionally coached, nor is it conducted for a singular purpose as it would be by an athlete. Our goal is a form of running that will help a guy become athletically well-rounded and make it through some sort of stressful course such as OCS, BUD/s, etc. That type of running consists of formation runs on un-even surfaces, and bearing weight (equipment). Barefoot running won't help with any of that. Buy some properly fitting, good quality footwear, run on pavement or trails, and concentrate on increasing your anerobic capacity and cardio strength. What this kid is asking is what will make him most successful in his military training. Take your shoes off, wear a Speedo and Tevas...it's your call how you choose to train.
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I think you miss my point. Barefoot running does not take the place of running with shoes. I think it should be implemented in with "shoe running." And barefoot runs will definately help you run on uneven surfaces. I think it helps running all around, and keeps your strides more natural. People sometimes tend to clod around when they run with shoes. Running a little barefoot in addition, helps keep your body programed to a more natural stride, even with shoes on.

And wearing a speedo to train should not be anyone's call. There is a run against that somewhere.

There are alot of opinions presented, however I can only attest to what I have observed from my own performance over the years and the 500+ BUD/s students I put through training with the associated lower extremeity injuries they sustained from trying "out-of-the-box" training methods in an effort to better prepare themselves.
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I realize this, but I dont' consider barefoot running "out-of-the-box training." Remember, I'm not advocating never running with shoes on. On the contrary, it's about adding a little barefoot running to an already well rounded program (with shoes on). As I stated, I don't want anyone to go out and run miles barefoot. I want people to go out and run miles, then come back and run some strides barefoot (as an addition).
 
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chilidog

Registered User
scoober78 said:
We do alot of things on our feet now that may have outpaced the rate at which our biology can adapt....running sub 10 second 100 meter dashes, or ultramarathons seem like challenges that people couldn't imagine 50 years ago...let alone more, so you have to wonder if some degree of human assistance (shoe technology etc...) isn't neccessary to help biology keep pace with human endeavor.
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That's probably true, but it seems like there's still something to this whole running barefoot thing. I got interested in this when a friend sent me to this article (well, blog post really) about how running shoes can be the cause of running injuries:

http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html

It's intriguing at the very least, and got me to stop looking for summer sandals that have padding. After wearing flat leather sandals around for about a week, my feet got all sore where I didn't even realize I had muscle. Of course, I don't think you'd want to try this out so close to crunch time, as everyone's already said.

Probably the most important thing I took from this guy's ranting was that the real danger is letting your cushy equipment make you so sloppy or wild that you give your feet too much of a pounding or injure yourself. Seems to me that that's a good philosophy for anybody. I figure that watching where you step is probably not a bad philosophy when you're NOT barefoot, too.
 
BackOrdered

BackOrdered

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Well, I'm out of the question for barefoot running as I'm flatfooted and even thinking about it will land me into the emergency room for stress fractures. Oh the shame of it all.
 
raptor10

raptor10

Philosoraptor
Contributor
tiz84 said:
Well, I'm out of the question for barefoot running as I'm flatfooted and even thinking about it will land me into the emergency room for stress fractures. Oh the shame of it all.
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Not true, being flatfooted is well within the range of normal foot conditions.


Prevention of Lower Extremity Stress Fractures in Athletes and Soldiers: A Systematic Review


Anatomic factors
A number of the papers reviewed examined anatomic factors that potentially could influence the risk of stress fracture. Three military studies evaluated foot morphology (arch height) and stress fracture risk. Among 287 Israeli Defense Force (IDF) trainees, persons with the highest foot arches sustained 3.9 times as many stress fractures as those with the lowest arches (pes planus or flat feet) (95 percent CI: 1.02, 15.38) (129). A 25-week prospective study of 449 trainees at the US Naval Special Warfare Training Center classified trainees into three equal-sized groups with high, normal, or low arch height but found no significant differences between groups (130). The results of the third study of naval special warfare trainees were inconclusive (131). Available research suggests that foot arch height may influence the risk of incurring stress fractures associated with vigorous physical training, but more research will be needed to define the nature of the association between arch type and stress fracture risk, particularly for women.
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airfrogusmc

airfrogusmc

Member
Just remember the shock you put on your joints when you run with a good running shoe. That will increase if you run barefoot. It might not effect you in the short term but I can tell you that some of the things that you do when you are young come back to bite you hard when you get older.
 
mustang_wife

mustang_wife

Domestic Engineer Specialist
barefoot running just doesn't seem so comfortable....maybe on the beach or very nice plush grass. People actually run on asphalt like this? enlighten me...I'm curious.
 
SMILE4BULLETS

SMILE4BULLETS

New Member
just a little FYI......running in soft sand barefoot is one of the worst things you can do for your feet--joint wise. your foot works like a set of tumblers (think combination lock) that fall into a certain position, each time your foot impacts--heel to toe off, when you run. change any of the angles that are normally moved through--IE running on uneven and soft surfaces, and sh*t doesnt line up correctly. then the rest of the joints that usually line up don't. needless to say, you quickly wear our your connective tissues and cartilage vice running on a flat deck.
 
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