Why is barefoot running so hidden?

Companies need to make money. Nike and Adidas are not going to make tons of money going towards zero-drop or low-heel stack shoes. Just look back at the minimalist trend 5 years ago, rarely do those companies (NB, Saucony for ex) make those 0 mm drops with low weight shoes anymore. To sustain a business they have to appeal to the main market, not just hipsters. If you wanted everyone on low-drop shoes then the trend setter must switch to that first. Altras or Merrells won't appeal to the big market of hobby joggers, gym rats wearing Nike Frees, etc.

You can read about people who realized this years ago--ex the training in racing flats thread.

Common sense doesn't seem to go over well in this country so here we are. 🤷‍♂️

Johnny Karate wrote:

Common sense doesn't seem to go over well in this country so here we are. 🤷‍♂️

Agreed.

I know. It's so cray-cray.

We need to get back to nature, just like that cool new movie, Avatar.

No one ever would have thought of heel-striking if it weren't for the Big Shoe Conspiracy.

Wake up sheeple!

Everything just has to be about money now. It's so frustrating. Corporate greed is making us stupid!

You're almost a decade late on this trend. So late, in fact, that it's not even the dominant trend anymore.

Be careful or you will quickly get stone bruises or stress fractures. This endeavor is to be taken lightly. I know a guy who trained directly through Lydiard in the 90s. He was a pretty good collegiate miler and he told me the stories about barefoot running. Basically Lydiard wanted him to do a relative high amount of running barefoot and he got major bruising and eventually a stress fracture. Yes it can be good but be reasonable with the volume you try.

Although the tide is shifting, barefoot or minimalist running is unconvtional and unorthodox, if not radical. You have to ignore the bad examples set by most elite athletes as well as the advice of alleged "experts" like coaches and medical professionals who are indoctrinated into old ways of thinking. When you practice a radical idea, people don't think you're smart, they think you're crazy.

A lot of people are afraid to run barefoot because they think it is the opposite of beneficial since their feet aren't accustomed to barefoot running. To get the most out of barefoot running you have to do it gradually and build up your mileage, like learning to run again.

There is also a significant amount of runners that don't live around terrain most suitable for barefoot runners. South Africa for example, has a lot of short damp grasslands. Cross country runners there don't really need to wear shoes since there is so much terrain to run on that is suitable for barefoot running compared to other places where they have to deal with rocky hot roads, sidewalks that may have random shards of glass, or even snow and ice. Runners in East Africa have a lot of sift dirt roads that strengthen their feet as they grow up running barefoot, therefore when they wear shoes they run even faster compared to a runner that grew up wearing shoes cushioning their feet on runs.

My neighbourhood has a couple of barefoot clowns and they've been at it for years. Still shuffling along with purple feet in freezing weather while sporting a smug expression.

Incredibly stilted form and SLOW.

a celebrity president was choosen, do you think people think? or do you think they are prone to follow the "just do it" kind of comercial and what the masses do?

You honestly believe that human innovation can not improve things for people, which would in include running? Do you wash your cloths by hand in a local stream beating them against the rocks? Do you own a cell phone? Drive in a car? Have you ever flown?

Footwear in general, and running shoes specifically, are an improvement on walking around barefoot like a fool. No running record will ever be set barefoot.

You can always spot the weakest and dumbest in society by their need to believe in conspiracy theories. Idiots.

Forefoot running is the natural way of running. I think what makes people start heelstriking at young ages is an inflexible sole, not necessarily high drop cushioned shoes. Nevertheless the cushioned heel is expandable when running forefoot. As to barefoot running which is most of the time also forefoot running- yes, our feet are designed to run barefoot and to strike on the ball of the foot- but are they designed to run 60 and above miles per week? I don't think our ancestors had to run like that. For what purpose? The explanation that guy gives in his book is illogical. For such high mileage at high speeds with quality workouts you need to have shoes with some cushioning- yet the heel cushioning is expandable

I can't stand the thinking of some of these naturalists who think human innovation and technology is the enemy. Did you not ever think there is a reason people might want more supportive shoes, rather than subjecting their vulnerable feet to the hard and dangerous ground? Also, these conspiracy theorists that claim that people were never injured from running barefoot/minimalist, and it was only until evil capitalism came along and worked their marketing mindcontrol on the idiot masses that people wanted support for their feet.

smell my five-fingers wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPdb7ZDJKS4

Is that a young Mel Gibson?

Question for all you PHD candidates; what is the most dense bone in the body? It is the Calcaneus. In the beginning of the modern day running shoe design shoe companies realized they could make the landing zone the calcareous protect it with cushion and lower the toe so you would roll off the metatarsals and cause less damage to all the small bones in your foot. We demanded shoes that fell like running on grass yet we were forced to run on the roads post collegiately. That's what the shoe companies gave us. Having always been a mid-foot striker I always wanted more cushion (protection) under my forefoot. But have run the last 50+ years in normal shoes with only 3 running injuries.

And OP how does Chris McDouchebag make a living? Is he a scientist? Is he a doctor? No he's a writer who embellishes the truth to sell books.

To a certain degree you guys are right about barefoot running but I believe some cushioning is necessary given the surfaces we choose to run on.

Remember that there is nothing natural about running on pavement and concrete for several miles. I agree with footwear being more flexible allowing muscles, tendons, and bones to strengthen but I don't completely agree with no cushioning to soften the impact of running on all hard surfaces.

you do not need to cushion impact because the impact is not the problem, rather the amount of time spent absorbing the shock. Heel striking will not destroy your calcaneus, but rather the joints above them, by forcing them to perform the function of the arch. Cushioning mitigates but can't solve this, and over time will destroy your knee cartilage forever by driving your tibia into your kneecap. Good forefoot striking form prevents this and makes shoes unnecessary.

Hard pavement is a better surface. A well-pronating arch absorbs most potentially damaging shock, and functions better on a stable surface. A soft surface is less stable and produces shear stress on the plantar fascia and ankles.

Pronation is about flattening of the arch, not inversion of the foot at the ankle as commonly misconceived. It is regulated primarily by the windlass mechanism through which the plantar fascia are shortened when the toes are dorsiflexed. The fascia absorb impact over time by striking in short phase, elongating as the arch flattens, then shortening again.