Putrajaya Night Marathon Discussions - Barefoot/Minimalist Running 1

[Mark Reyneker]

Putrajaya Night Marathon Discussions - Barefoot/Minimalist Running 1

This is a topic that over the last year or two has received a lot of
attention from the media. Much of the information available has been
misleading and not truly honest since it affects the businesses of
large running shoe companies.

How can we believe everything that is written when at the end of the
day there are products that come along with this so called new
information. For example, the articles that promote barefoot running
conveniently promote minimalist shoes such as the vibram five fingers
or Nike free. (For an example see an article in The Star newspaper on
barefeet running)

The reason why I am pointing out this point is so that runners and
other sports enthusiasts reading the information out there realise
that there is often a marketing ploy involved. So it is wise to
exercise precaution and not to just jump on the bandwagon.

I think that these newer "shoe" options are great but options are what
they are. Giving us more options per individual with his/her unique
foot structure. There is no ultimate "shoe" that is good for everyone,
since each individual's feet are quite unique.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets discuss barefoot running.

If you are a runner with neutral biomechanics of your lower limbs then
you are a candidate for barefoot running. We consider your
biomechanics to be neutral if you do not have any anatomical
deviations from normal.

So what is normal? There are standards that podiatrists use for
determining whether an individual's lower limbs are neutral. For
example, if we consider your base of gait (the angle that your feet
face when you are standing relaxed) we would consider a maximum of 10
degrees "outward facing" to be normal. That is, when someone views you
from behind, they should only be able to see toe number 4 and 5
(pinky). So your feet should not be facing outwards too much. If they
do, then it is very likely that you may have some issues wearing
minamilist shoes or running barefeet.

To be cont....