Barefoot Running

[KnottedYet]

There is a really cool study being published (I left the info at work) which looked at shoe type and foot type and what injury rates were.

Here's the basic idea, and I'm just going by memory: they took a bunch of experienced runners, and carefully divided them into 3 groups based on their foot posture type: pronators, neutrals, and supinators. Then they randomly assigned 1/3 of EACH GROUP to wear motion control shoes, neutral shoes, or cushy shoes. They ran for something like 3 months in only their assigned shoes.

So you had essentially 9 studies going on, cuz there was a combination of each foot posture type and each shoe type (regardless of if the foot "matched" the shoe).

The results were very cool: didn't matter what the foot posture type, the folks wearing motion control shoes had the most injuries. Folks in the neutral shoes gave them the highest comfort ratings, regardless of the person's foot posture type. There were some other bits, but I don't remember.

And the grand conclusion: doesn't matter what in tarnation you wear on your feet, as long as it feels good to you. Your body is smart enough to tell what will work for it.

Run! Be happy!