Nike Free running shoes are supposed to emulate running barefoot. get them fitted close, so you can wear them without socks or with a very thin pair of socks.

Running barefoot on a treadmill sounds gross - hope you put a lot of Lamisil on your feet afterwards!



Edit: not noticed your link about Vibram shoes, doh!

Running barefoot is better for your body than running in shoes isn't it?

In Thailand, I have to run barefoot on the treadmill. Required. Not sure why.

I wouldn't do significant running on the beach barefoot. Surprisingly, the hard packed sand at waterline actually creates a lot of impact return (according to some fairly dated research, but if there is newer research that contridicts this I'd love to see it). I used to do 30second drills in at the end of my tapering phase on a football field barefoot.

30 second drills are you run 100m, and you get 30seconds to run the 100m and also to rest, and after the 30seconds you go again. We used to do this for 32 reps or 16 reps depending on where in the end of the taper we were.

MikeTX wrote:

welle wrote:
Edit: not noticed your link about Vibram shoes, doh!

I hope you also read where I ran on the treadmill with socks on. Yes, I agree that running on a grungy treadmill with no socks and sweaty feet would be pretty gross.

for some reason i think socks won't be enough barrier, but that's just me... definitely check out Nike Free shoes, you could probably get older models on sale for half price. they were my gym running shoes before I quit the gym, because they're low-bulk and lightweight (i can just slip them into my handbag).

I run barefoot on a treadmill daily. I dial up the inclination all the way to 15, that reduces the impact; otherwise my feet tend to make an annoying slapping noise on the rubber surface. (This doesn't happen on dirt or asphalt, it's something about the motion on a treadmill not being quite the same as when running for real.)

I'd much rather run barefoot on grass or dirt or sand, but those are scarce commodities in or near my workplace.

As for the "ick" factor: do you wear shoes in the shower? If not, say hello to Tinea Pedis. There's only one pair of feet the treadmill is ever exposed to, and that's mine

I have read in the past (sorry no sources), and can say from experience, that walking/running barefoot is good way to strengthen little used muscle/tendon/soft tissue in a way one cannot accomplish while wearing shoes; I consider it analogous to using freeweights in the gym as opposed to machines. Likewise, it is wise to tone down the intensity and duration so as not to overdo things...
Growing up just north of San Diego I used to run on the beach fairly regularly/whenever it was flat, about half my typical standard run distance. From an anecdotal perspective, when starting out, running barefoot on the hard pack sand was quite a bit more stressful on my feet and ankles and less stressful on my knees than running on sidewalks in good running shoes. Over time, as I got stronger, I would mix in a small amount of running in the soft and dry sand above the water's edge to really give myself a workout.
Running barefoot is quite stressful to begin with and I stretched and massaged my feet and legs regularly as part of the recovery process that I think is critical to any exercise program. Beyond improving ones running ability it also has the added benefit of increased foot strength which translates (or can) to better climbing. Additionally, it was simply a nice change of pace. Nowadays, I don't have access to nice lengths of cushy surface to run on (and my feet are weak) but I do enjoy walking around outside barefoot-something about the simplicity of it!
Have fun, and don't forget that what we, as adults, often call exercise, we, in our youth, used to call play!

I wanted to address that question of barefoot running being better for you. The quick answer is that, yes, your feet were designed to run barefoot and that's how they work best.

Of course, the big problem is that feet evolved to run barefoot on natural surfaces. There was very little concrete, packed trail, or flat treadmill tread during the process of foot evolution. If you run barefoot on flat hard surfaces for a long time, you would eventually stretch out your arch, and lose much of the shock absorbsion it provides. But, if you were to run on dirt, grass, sand, or even rocks (need callouses first!), your foot can curve and conform to these surfaces, and it works great. That's why the foot has more bones and joints than any part of the body!

Nice to hear you've tried out the Free. I want to, but Nike just doesn't fit my foot shape. Essentially, the Free allows your foot to contact a curved, cushioned surface, rather than a flat one, without actually controlling the movement of the foot. It's about as natural as you can get in shoes. Glad it works for you!

You are looking at arch collapse with any significant running, and even faster arch collapse if you run barefoot.

Another barefoot runner here. Barefoot running (or in Vibram KSOs) along with strength training, plyometrics, the Pose method and Evolution running, and some trial and error has gotten me from 4 months ago being winded with my knees giving out after less than 1/2 mile on the treadmill, to just this weekend doing a personal best half marathon. I'm not fixed yet - I still have huge difficulty resisting the temptation to overdo any endorphin-producing activity and spend too much time with stiff, sore muscles and misaligned joints when i'm not warmed up - but I'm making progress and barefoot running is fun and feels free, even on hard surfaces (i don't live or work by a beach or golf course, i work by a paved park trail).

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:You are looking at arch collapse with any significant running, and even faster arch collapse if you run barefoot.

Actually, it's just the opposite. Running barefoot is the best thing you can do to strengthen and maintain your arches.

Running barefoot singlehandedly cured my PF and allowed me to continue ultrarunning. Humans, though 99.9999% of our history, have run barefoot with minimal to no ill effects. Only recently have our arches started collapsing, our PF started flaring up, our knees flaring up, and our IT bands screaming. About the time we started running in shoes and on pavement, to be exact.

so you want to run barefoot but you don't want to run barefoot. the answer in Nike Free. They come in trainers, runners. The idea is to develop muscles that get forgotten by a normal running shoe, improving performance. read up on it. I have a pair of Nike Free 7.0s and I love them.

Hope this helps

I have Free 5.0's also. Don't run much, but once I got used to them they are my go-to cardio shoes.

barefoot running is interesting. lots of good points brought up by people here.

there aren't many studies on this stuff, so its hard to know really when barefoot running does / doesn't reduce injuries. seems like in a lot of instances it could.

arches - you have foot muscles that should hold it in place. of course if you just go out and start running barefoot a lot, your muscles are too weak and you will flatten your arch. however perhaps with proper adjustment it would be okay.

what's interesting to me is from the energy expenditure and mechanics side. running barefoot changes mechanics not only of the foot (landing toe first instead of heel) but it changes the orientation of the rest of the body, and redistributes the load. this may change how much energy is required at a given speed.

this really hasn't been studied...and how does it change with speed? if running on toes was as energetically efficient as heelstrike running, than why do people choose heel / midstrike instead? really interesting stuff.