Going Bare

The Case for Running Barefoot

Running shoes are wonderful things. They protect your feet from nails and broken glass, allow you to run on concrete, and are particularly useful on ice and snow. Running shoes also, however, treat your feet like planks that only move at the ball. In shoes, your feet may not be providing all they have to offer.

Feet are wonderful things too. Each foot has 26 bones, many ligaments, and over 20 muscles and their associated tendons. These muscles form four layers which support the four arches of your feet and both spread the load when you land and help propel you forward. Yet we rarely let our feet out of their little protective houses. The result is weak feet and ankles and, arguably, reduced running performance and a greater risk of injury.

Runners with weak feet and ankles have a slightly shorter stride because the feet are the last bit of propulsion at the end of the chain from the hip, thigh and lower leg. The feet provide the extension at the end of push-off, not unlike the follow-through that gives a pitcher those last few miles per hour on his fastball. You may also be more likely to be injured if you have weak feet because they are less able to withstand repetitive stresses.

You can strengthen your feet and ankles by using them as they were designed to be used. Take off your shoes and let your feet move on natural surfaces. When you walk or run barefoot, you strengthen the little muscles in your feet which have been sleeping peacefully in your shoes for years. You also stretch and strengthen your calf muscles and may improve your running form. The protection provided by your shoes allows you to get away with sloppy running style. It is very difficult, however, to run barefoot with bad technique and almost impossible to overstride.

Care When Going Bare

You need to be very careful when starting a barefoot running program. Picture your soft little feet muscles and tendons if you suddenly say to them, “Okay, we’re going to start this training program by landing with four times bodyweight several thousand times”—a sure recipe for injury. In addition, your running shoes have at least a half inch heel lift (your casual shoes likely have even more) and your calf muscles and Achilles tendon have shortened accordingly.

I learned this lesson at a good friend’s expense. A few years ago, I suggested to former Olympic marathoner Julie Isphording that she try running barefoot. This was far too general a comment, as Julie launched into several miles of barefoot running and became severely injured. I felt terrible (still do). Looking back, it is obvious that I should have advised Julie to do a little barefoot walking for a few weeks before even attempting to run barefoot.

Of course, there are some people who should not run barefoot at all, and there are some places where it is not safe. San Diego-based biomechanist Doug Stewart, Ph.D., explains “Even in the best of circumstances, some runners have problems related to their footplant. Thus some runners will not do well running barefooted on any surfaces. Typically those would be people with mechanical problems who need orthotics and shoes to be better aligned, or for protection such as diabetics who have lost foot sensation.”

None of us should run barefoot anyplace where some idiot may have broken a bottle or ripped a beer can in half, or where sharp stones are lurking. Barefoot running is really only natural when running on natural, or at least forgiving, surfaces. Some of the best locations for barefoot running are golf courses (when golfers aren’t around), grass fields at schools, universities, parks, and long stretches of sandy beach (that are not too soft). Obviously, you shouldn’t run barefoot if the surface you will be running on is likely to sizzle the bottoms of your feet or turn them to icicles.

How Should You Start?

Gradually. Before you start running barefoot, you should walk barefoot for a few weeks to strengthen the muscles in your feet and ankles and toughen up the skin on the bottom of your feet. Start out by walking barefoot for 5 to 10 minutes a couple of times each day. You can also do exercises while walking barefoot such as high knees and walking on the balls of your feet to prepare your feet for running barefoot. Dr. Stewart says, “Feel your arches the next morning. If they are not sore, then you can do a little more the next day, but progress slowly. When you can walk barefoot for an hour relatively comfortably, then you should be ready to start a little barefoot running.”

Once you start barefoot running, the forces on your feet and calf muscles increase greatly. Start out with five minutes at the very most, and increase slowly, running barefoot every two to three days. After a couple of months, you may get to where you can run barefoot for 20 minutes, but for some people a few minutes will be all they can handle. Unfortunately, the options are more limited in much of the country during the winter, but you can keep your feet in shape by walking barefoot at home and doing a few laps on an indoor track (barefoot jogging is a nice way to cooldown after a track workout).

After a few weeks of running barefoot two or three times per week, your feet and ankles will be much stronger which should reduce your injury risk when running. You should also find that you have more spring in your step and a slightly longer stride. Approached cautiously, barefoot running can be a useful and refreshing addition to your training.

Two-time Olympian Pete Pfitzinger is an exercise physiologist.