A side question: from a joint-stress point of view, is it better to have a heavily cushioned running shoe or it’s better to go for minimal shoes and avoid heel strike and running on hard surfaces?
That’s a tough question, and one I’ve actually struggled to answer myself.
If you ask anyone in the mainstream competitive running community, they’ll tell you to get a good, cushioned running shoe, but also to work on your form to develop a good midfoot strike. Runners often to barefoot drills and other drills to develop proper midfoot strike, but still run in cushioned running shoes. They’ll also go running on the beach barefoot if they can to improve foot strength and form.
Repetitive stress injuries (shin splints, stress fractures, joint and tendon problems) are the single most common injury in runners and have taken me out of the game many times, even when actively trying to prevent them and with proper coaching. Proper shoes and good running form are both supposed to reduce these injuries.
However, there are a lot of successful barefoot runners and I do think there is something to learn from the ancestral health and fitness communities. There are a lot of runners who go completely barefoot and a lot who use minimalist footwear like Vibrams and don’t report any issues. They claim that your body mechanics are better barefoot and I have to agree that we were built to run barefoot. However, a lifetime of wearing shoes could definitely make a difference on whether or not running barefoot is still a good idea.
I suspect that you just have to be a lot more careful with barefoot running and that it’s probably not a good idea for your joints or back longterm to run barefoot or minimal with high volume for years. But honestly, I don’t know if it’s any worse than doing it with cushioned running shoes. Runners in proper shoes also have joint problems when they get older.
A side question: from a joint-stress point of view, is it better to have a heavily cushioned running shoe or it’s better to go for minimal shoes and avoid heel strike and running on hard surfaces?
That’s a tough question, and one I’ve actually struggled to answer myself.
If you ask anyone in the mainstream competitive running community, they’ll tell you to get a good, cushioned running shoe, but also to work on your form to develop a good midfoot strike. Runners often to barefoot drills and other drills to develop proper midfoot strike, but still run in cushioned running shoes. They’ll also go running on the beach barefoot if they can to improve foot strength and form.
Repetitive stress injuries (shin splints, stress fractures, joint and tendon problems) are the single most common injury in runners and have taken me out of the game many times, even when actively trying to prevent them and with proper coaching. Proper shoes and good running form are both supposed to reduce these injuries.
However, there are a lot of successful barefoot runners and I do think there is something to learn from the ancestral health and fitness communities. There are a lot of runners who go completely barefoot and a lot who use minimalist footwear like Vibrams and don’t report any issues. They claim that your body mechanics are better barefoot and I have to agree that we were built to run barefoot. However, a lifetime of wearing shoes could definitely make a difference on whether or not running barefoot is still a good idea.
I suspect that you just have to be a lot more careful with barefoot running and that it’s probably not a good idea for your joints or back longterm to run barefoot or minimal with high volume for years. But honestly, I don’t know if it’s any worse than doing it with cushioned running shoes. Runners in proper shoes also have joint problems when they get older.