The benefits of barefoot running

Nowadays, people no longer like to wear running shoes. Most people prefer to run barefoot. There are many sayings about why people now run barefoot. Some people say that running barefoot is better than running with shoes. Some say that running barefoot can stimulate the acupuncture points on the feet. So what are the effects and functions of running barefoot?

Key points: Scientists conducted a series of data analyses and found that even on hard ground, the impact force between barefoot runners and the ground is still smaller, so the impact force on the feet is also smaller than that of people who wear shoes and are accustomed to landing on their heels. Barefoot running also makes your steps more flexible and uses the calf and foot muscles more effectively.

According to Reuters, Anna Toombs, the 35-year-old founder of the British fitness company "Barefoot Running UK", promoted barefoot running, but was booed countless times on the street for it. When she and her partner David Robinson ran barefoot through parks and sidewalks in London, passers-by repeatedly jeered: "Where are your shoes?"

“People look at you like you’re a monster,” Robinson said. This topic has become a global controversy, and many scientists in physiology, pathology or biology have also joined the discussion. At a recent sports science conference in London, most people were dressed in suits, but some came barefoot for a two-hour discussion on the pros and cons of barefoot running.

"It's a polarized debate, with what you might call the barefoot evangelicals on one side and the opposition," said Ross Tucker, an exercise physiologist and middle-distance running coach at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Born to run?

The current trend of barefoot running mainly comes from a book called Born to Run, which was written by Christopher McDougall. In the book, McDougal recounts the time he spent with the Tarahumara people of Mexico, an ethnic group that can run long distances barefoot, and often at very high speeds. It is said that they rarely encounter the knee injuries that ordinary people suffer from when running.

The controversy centers on one question: Does wearing running shoes with heel pads and supportive foot structure significantly change the way people exercise, making them more susceptible to injury? Supporters of barefoot running believe that the most primitive method allows the feet to land on the most muscular and elastic part of the foot, that is, the front half of the sole, rather than on the heel like many people who wear shoes.

Perhaps in the eyes of most people, running barefoot may bring about a lot of doubts, but in fact there are pros and cons to running barefoot. Running barefoot can massage the acupoints on your feet, but it is also easy to get injured. We can wear a pair of shoes with moderate hardness and massage effect, so that we don’t have to run barefoot and can massage the acupoints on our feet.