A team of scientists from the universities of Granada (UGR) and Jaén has demonstrated the advantages for muscular health of running barefoot, whatever the speed of the runner. Dispensing with the shoes favors the acquisition of a more efficient technical biomechanical running pattern , which encourages the foot to start contact with the ground in the metatarsal area, which is known as forward support . On the contrary, sports shoes with protections currently in fashion tend to make the runner adopt the opposite technique: that is, making the first contact with the ground with the back of the foot, in the calcaneal area (the so-called delayed support). This generates significant impact peaks that negatively affect the health and athletic performance of the athlete.
A growing number of runners support this technique of barefoot running (“running barefoot”, in English), encouraged by various studies that are bringing to light the advantages and disadvantages of this form of exercise. At the moment it is not a majority practice, but it is clearly increasing . Studies seem to agree with the great Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila , who won the gold medal in the marathon of the 1960 Rome Olympics by running without shoes. It could be said that the footwear that humans have worn for millennia has been quite minimalist, just protective soles so as not to mistreat the soles of the feet. However, over the past three decades, constant technological advances have emerged that have radically changed the design of functional elements typical of sports footwear: padded midsoles, motion control technologies, layers of various materials to optimize cushioning capacity … But the advantages of these recent advances are questioned in scientific forums . Of course, for the race with bare feet to be beneficial for health, it is essential to acquire a series of technical habits. Otherwise, it could lead to the appearance of other risk elements.
In the aforementioned study carried out in Spain, published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science , a multidisciplinary research team of the UGR called HUMAN LAB, located in the Mixed University Sports and Health Institute (iMUDS), has participated. with the technological means necessary to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the health and efficiency indicators of the corridors. The article collects the results obtained after developing a twelve-week training program based on barefoot running, which has made it possible to verify the effects produced in athletes. 39 volunteer runners participated, developing a program with specific exercises performed on natural grass and with a progressive intensity load based on continuous runs or intervals and sprints . After the training period, it was found that the athletes who run barefoot significantly change the initial impact technique of the foot with the ground. The lagging support runners switched to a more forward pattern, both at comfortable running speed (from 55.6% lagging support went to 11.1%) and at higher speeds (from 58.3% lagging support to 13 , 8%).
Overall, it was seen that training based on barefoot running, applied correctly, produces significant changes in the type of support regardless of the athlete’s speed. And that the forward support (metatarsal) helps reduce impact peaks and therefore also reduces the risk for the runner of suffering injuries. Even so, the study authors warn of the need to be prudent when starting barefoot running and advise carrying out a multidisciplinary study of the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system , both at a static level (podiatric and postural), as dynamic (study of walking and running locomotion), with special interest towards the assessment of three-dimensional kinematic changes (analysis of technique), kinetic (analysis of forces) and biostructural (analysis of elastic and contractile elements ), in addition to analyzing the footwear usually used.
