

How Humans Ran Comfortably and Safely Before the Invention of Shoes - oscardelben
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127134241.htm

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RiderOfGiraffes
Lots of coverage of this and related material recently. Here are some earlier
submissions, not all of which cover the same ground, but which are related.
There may be more, I've found these partly by hand and may have missed some.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1086446>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1084520>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1081341>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1071073>

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ajscherer
I found this page on Brooks website very interesting. They invited an
assortment running "experts" from various backgrounds to give their opinion on
barefoot running.

[http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Runnin...](http://www.brooksrunning.com/About+Brooks/On+Barefoot+Running/The+Experts/)

The consensus seems to be that there are proven benefits to running barefoot,
but that it is not always the most appropriate choice. They caution runners
seeking to transition to barefoot against doing too much too soon.

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jackfoxy
After reading another article pointed to by HN, and watching some YouTube
reviews, I rushed out and bought a pair of Vibram Five-Fingers and have been
wearing them almost exclusively ever since. They've changed my life.

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tomkinstinch
Do you wear socks with them? Do you find that your feet feel colder?

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jackfoxy
I usually where toe socks, sometimes not. Sure in the winter my feet are a
little colder, it doesn't bother me.

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dkimball
Very interesting. (Link: the main illustration of the different running gaits
is at
[http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeThe...](http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/3RunningBeforeTheModernShoe.html)
). I'm surprised to see that they didn't find a difference in kinetic energy
between heel and forefoot impacts; my naive assumption was that the "rolling"
motion of the foot in a heel strike would result in a higher-energy bound
forward...

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gabeiscoding
There seems to be a wave of media attention on this following the release and
popularity of "Born to Run".

If you are a runner or would like to be one, it's a good read. And if you
haven't found out about it yet, check out Vibram Five Finger "shoes" which
allow you to start barefoot running without the callouses and hard skin:
<http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/>

~~~
mrduncan
I'm sure I've said it before, but if you're interested in running I really
recommend checking out the book.

[http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-
Greatest...](http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-Superathletes-
Greatest/dp/0307266303)

~~~
oscardelben
I'm going to check it out. I have heard a lot about this book lately. Thanks
for mentioning it

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og1
Interesting article. I see barefoot/minimal shoe running as possible way to
correct issues in running form. Could practice running on your toes on a track
or something like that. You could also just spend time with regular running
shoes to correct your running form away from the heel-striking which some
naturally fall into.

Although interesting, I don't think I'd ever go for a run without running
shoes. Just seems like a good way to step on something sharp and have it go
into your foot.

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zargon
Feet have good reflexes for avoiding debris. But the choice isn't just between
risking stepping on glass barefoot and ruining your feet with Nikes -- cf.
"barefoot shoes" like Vibram, Vivo, etc.

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balding_n_tired
Overstriding tends to jar the hips, no matter how cushioned the heel. I did
notice that the irregular footing in Saturday's snow--running over others'
footprints--enforced a different stride.

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rdtsc
Besides that, humans have probably evolved to run through grass, mud and sand,
I am not sure that running on concrete or broken glass (in the city) would
work as well.

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jared314
Hence the shoes geared towards barefoot running. Vibram FiveFingers, Feelmax,
Nike Free, etc.

~~~
rdtsc
But I understand that their soles are very thin, thus they still don't protect
against the impact when running on a concrete sidewalk.

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nfnaaron
Not them by themselves, but they have you striking on the ball of your foot,
or mid-foot at most. _That_ reduces the sudden impact on your foot and leg.
Heel striking is like driving a post (your lower leg) into the ground.
Striking on the ball of the foot converts the force into rotational energy
(pivoting around the ball, and around the ankle) and spreads it out over time.

~~~
rdtsc
I wasn't talking about the heel strike, it is understood that this is about
barefoot running. So the strike is on the ball of the foot. I was just saying
that even striking the ball of the foot many times against concrete is a lot
harder on the feet than doing the same on grass, mud, or sand.

The idea behind barefoot running is revert to the conditions for which the
human leg has been adapting to for many thousands of years. My argument was
that perhaps we haven't yet adopted to very hard surfaces, such as asphalt or
concrete sidewalks ...

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blueben
You think humans never ran across rock or hard packed dirt?

