While running on sand tends to be done barefoot, the current hype surrounding “barefoot running” is based on different principles.

A lot of the changes that we think occur running barefoot on firmer surfaces revolve around the anticipation of the ground forces and loading patterns, according to Caleb Wegener, a Sydney podiatrist who has presented at international conferences on the biomechanics of running shoes.

“On sand, those forces aren’t there.”

Running with shoes
Running shoes are designed to reduce impact on the joints and muscles. In fact most of the time, you’ll pay the extra money for features like this.

However, the downside is that the added cushioning actually “deadens” or limits the proprioception of more than 100 muscles, joints and ligaments of the foot.

The effect of barefoot running
When the foot is bare, the muscles of the foot and lower leg prepare and adapt in preparation for the landing and subsequent lift-off, whereas in the shoe they’re doing much less.

Motion studies show that barefoot runners have a shorter ground contact time (half that of runners wearing shoes), a shorter stride length and higher stride frequency.

Barefoot runners also have a significantly greater rate and amount of knee flexion, which acts as a natural shock absorber, and they tend to land with a flatter mid-foot strike.

All this was confirmed in a biomechanics study at Nike's Sports Research Lab in 2005, after the company found that Stanford University head track coach trained his runners with no shoes at all – even though they were sponsored by Nike.

Benefitting from bare feet
Barefoot running would especially benefit runners who heel strike and/or land with a straight knee.

Even limited exposure to barefoot running – a warm up each session or one light session per week – would help train the foot and lower leg to make technical adaptations that will carry over when running in shoes.

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