- As an athlete I had plenty of advice on my choice of footwear
and my running gait, but I never actually had barefoot
running recommended to me, and as a result, I didn't try it. So I want to explore the
development of this type of running with my own investigation
and the added help of some top level podiatrists. Ultimately, should you
try barefoot running? Or are you better off
sticking with your trainers? Now before we begin,
I think it may be wise to give a quick history on
what this craze is all about. In 1960 Abebe Bikila won
Olympic gold in the marathon, running the whole race barefoot. And this was a milestone in athletics as it was the first time in modern history that an athlete had won
a major race barefoot. 1962, New Balance joined the competition with the first scientifically
researched shoe. Another company arose in this decade from a coach, Bill Bowerman,
and one of his athletes who came up with a lightweight
shoe providing a heel wedge, and they went on to name the brand Nike. Much to the shoe
manufacturers' disapproval, the famous South African middle
distance runner Zola Budd won all of her races barefoot, even breaking the 5K world record in 1985. If we then leap forward to the 1990s the emphasis was on bigger
shoes with more cushioning. Brands such as Reebok,
with the Reebok pumps, and then Nike, with the
hugely popular Nike Air. Then there was a change in 2004 as Nike released the Nike Free, which they claimed helped
to strengthen the foot. This was a sign of a move away from the ever supporting,
cushioning shoe designs. A year later, in 2005, the
Vibram 5 Fingers were released. Four years later again,
the sales and popularity of this minimalist shoe
escalated after the release of the book Born to
Run by Chris McDougall. There was a notable swing back
against the minimalist shoe when Hoka released their
first shoe in 2010, which boasted 2 1/2 times more cushioning than a normal training shoe. Then there was another new
development just last year with Nike releasing their Vapour 4%, that was worn in world
record-breaking runs. Well as much as this
investigation is about me and my opinion, I
thought it was probably time I got an expert opinion as well, so Claire has very
kindly agreed to join me. Claire is an HCPC registered podiatrist, and an ex-professional
runner, so I'm delighted. Claire, thanks so much for coming. - Oh, thank you for inviting me. - So Claire I know you're
not a massive advocate of barefoot running, but what things can we learn from barefoot running that could maybe help, you know, everyday runners who use trainers? What can we take from it? - So, I do think there's a place for barefoot running
within training programmes. We are a shod community;
we do all of our training with trainers on, we walk with shoes on, so to go from being shod to barefoot needs real sort of progression and study. So, maybe I can talk about it
from a personal point of view, where I use barefoot running would be at the end of a session;
I take my trainers off and I might do my warm-down
loops around a track barefoot, or I might do a few strides
on the beach barefoot, but that's about all me, as an athlete-- - And why would you do that? What was that giving your running? - So you're going from a shoe
where the foot is supported to a non-shoe environment where the foot actually has to work, so it's really making all those little intrinsic muscles of the foot power up and start working, and it actually works in conjunction with the extrinsic muscles
of the foot as well. So it is a way of getting
the foot to be more powerful, in a safe environment really. - And when you're doing most
of your running with trainers, and the clients that you have, what are the main problems
that trainers can give runners? Because obviously yes
there's lots of benefits, and that's why you're an advocate for it. But what are the downsides
of wearing trainers and what problems do you see? - So, badly fitting trainers
can cause lots of problems; they can cause inshoe friction, which can cause corns/calluses,
ingrown toenails. It can then on the mechanical
side of things you can look at things like plantar
fasciosis, plantar fasciitis; you can get achilles strains. You can get bony joint deformities. - Because of trainers? - Well yeah, you can,
if they're badly fitting you can get lots of conditions. That's why it's really important
to find what suits you. - And what's the main thing
that a trainer offers? Like, what are you looking
for in a shoe, in a trainer? Or what are you advising
people to look for? - Yeah, so you're looking
for support, really. Support, protection,
and comfort, I would say are the three main areas
that you're looking for. You're looking for a trainer
that will perform its function. Are you going to be going walking? Are you going to be running? What are you going to be
doing with these trainers? Are you long distance;
are you short distance? My trainer that I use for
racing will be different to the the trainer that
I use for training. So it really comes down to what
you need this trainer to do. - So if you're going
to do barefoot running, or if you've ever seen
any barefoot runners, what problems might arise from it? Or, what could you see as a
barefoot runner, as a problem? - So I've seen quite
a few barefoot runners that have presented in the
clinic with stress fractures. - Of which part, the foot or the leg, or-- - Mainly in the shin. The shin and also oscillating
a little bit higher up into the hip. Also with barefoot runners, they tend to acquire a fallen arch quite quickly. And they often get sort of
plantar fascial problems. So I had one barefoot
runner come into the clinic; he got rid of his knee
pain, but he got foot pain. - Right. - So, he's now trying
to find a balance there with whether he puts his
shoes on or takes them off. And then, what he's done
is he's found a balance; he does a little bit of barefoot
and then some shod running. So I think it's all about
finding your own formula. - Well it's time to investigate. And we learned from watching I couldn't actually find any grass, so we're going to improvise
and use this beach and then the promenade. And I expect you're like me and you've done some running on the beach, but probably never thought about it. Now I have run on the
beach in trainers before, and barefoot, but I've
never really thought about how it feels different and
what it does to my stride. So this time I'm going to be
really thinking about that, but also I'm going to watch
the footage back and see if it changes the way I run
and the way my foot moves, and then I'm going to do exactly
the same on the promenade, and run it with trainers
and then with barefoot. I haven't done much running
barefoot on the hard, so I expect that to feel
even more different. To be honest, going barefoot
feels so refreshing. Childhood memories of running on the beach come flooding back. It actually feels natural as
my feet are constantly adapting to the change in the sand
as I land and push off. And this makes for an
all round enjoyable run, whilst feeling like a full
workout for my lower leg, and my core, to that matter. Now onto the promenade, and
a surface I'm familiar with. As expected, the use of
trainers on this type of surface proves nothing new; the
support from my trainers allows me to power through the movement whilst keeping my foot in
a more stable position. Thus, I'm able to run hard and fast while staying comfortable. (relaxed club music) Shoes off, and despite the slow-mo walkup, I'm slightly apprehensive due
to the hard, gravely surface. What did surprise me though was the change in my foot strike; it became quite flat and
less energy-transferring from one stride to the next. Oh and ouch, that's the gravel. To be honest, I've never
really thought about the weight of my shoe and its effects, and it wasn't until I directly compared running with trainers
to then running barefoot that I noticed how much
lighter I felt barefoot. Now, I run with a fairly
neutral, cushioned trainer, and then I also insert
these very rigid orthotics. Now, I was given these
because I was diagnosed as an overpronator years ago when I suffered from longterm shin splits, and I wasn't massively won over by them but I did eventually become
injury free whilst using these and to be honest, I've never
actually risked taking them out and going back to neutral running. I found running barefoot was really nice on the plantar fascia, so
the underside of my foot, as it naturally let it stretch out and let my foot move as it wanted to. On the counter side, I did find though, that my calves got quite tight. So, if you do think about wanting to incorporate barefoot
running into your training, then something worth
considering is definitely doing some calf strengthening exercises
and plenty of stretches. If I did decide to take
barefoot running any further, I'd definitely start by
just reducing the support, so just going for a more minimalist shoe, but still going for a
shoe to protect my foot from the surface. But at the moment, after
this investigation, I'm not prepared to make
any dramatic changes. Because I did have so many
injuries as a younger athlete, and to be honest, I've just
enjoyed being able to run now and I'm not patient enough
to take it back to basics so I can't do the miles and
race like I can at the moment. In summary, my opinion
is, if it's not broken then don't fix it. Having said that that, this investigation has made me realise that my
foot has got a little bit lazy, so I'm going to try and
reintegrate some exercises, maybe a bit of barefoot running
at the end of hard sessions when I've got a grass field to run on, or maybe some exercises in a sand pit, just to help get my foot strong and really protect me from injury. If you've had any experience
with barefoot running, I'd love to hear from you so do let us know in the comment section below. And if you haven't done so yet, subscribe to GTN by clicking on the globe. And if you want to know
how to run a fast half mile and you want some training tips, there's a great video that we did with GCN's Dan Lloyd just here. We've also been talking about stretches; you want a video on that,
I made one just here.
