Stupid Human Tricks, Part 1

For the past few months I have been reading a ton about the benefits of barefoot training. The whole point is our feet have evolved the way they did for a reason and artificially adding padding in running shoes actually increases the potential for injury. There are some minimalist shoes available such as the Vibram Fivefingers that I've been trying to get my hands on but finding a pair in my size has been tough (stupid small feet.) Now, I have had various foot/leg injuries such as sprained ankles, plantar fascitis, achilles injuries, and hamstring injuries so I was very receptive to something new. So a couple weeks ago I decided I was going to try going completely barefoot during a few 16 minutes games of handball at Holy Cross. The field the games were played on was a nice field turf (synthetic grass) and I was imediately hooked. My feet felt great! Running barefoot forces someone to run with proper form. That means landing on the ball of the foot and slightly rolling to the instep (our natural shock absorber.) Landing on the heel (which is what leads to many achilles and hamstring injuries) will simply be too painful. And the next day my feet felt even better! I was looking forward to my next opportunity to take my shoes off and run barefoot, which came just a few days later. This time I tried to run 300 yards in under 60 seconds (piece of cake) on astroturf. This was a BIG mistake. There is simply no give to the astroturf and my feet blistered imediately. I could barely walk for a couple days after that little experiment. It was kinda nasty. But it got me thinking. At first I thought it was because of the turf but now I think it may have been just a case of going too far too fast. Just like anything in training a progression must be applied. We must start slow and I certainly learned my lesson the hard way on this one. So this is my recomendation for anyone interested in decreasing their risk of injury and applying barefoot training to your program. Start by performing a movement based warmup (this could be outside on field turf, grass, inside at a gym, or in your living room/basement.) Then add some jumping rope. Then head outside and run 20 yards at 60% speed. Increase the distance and intensity as you see fit. For the last couple days I have used the football field at Auburn High for my warmup and some running. They have a pretty decent field turf field. Once again my feet feel great!! So do your feet and your legs a favor and toss the running shoes and go barefoot!

Mike

PS...just be sure to wash your feet after your workout.