Is Barefooting Bad For You?

There’s really no comprehensive resource out there that shows how to progress in barefooting. We did it wrong and that’s the reason we wrote this book!

Ever since the release of McDougall’s “Born to Run” there’s been an influx of people taking their shoes off. However, we see two things. First, poor mechanics, and second, runners with the bad habit of ONLY running (not doing soft tissue work, movement preparation, strength or conditioning).

Josh and I are by no means elite endurance athletes or long distance runners. However, because of our backgrounds as personal trainers and movement geeks, barefoot has always made sense to us. We’ve always incorporated it into our training. A couple years ago, we decided to do some long distance barefoot running. We accrued mileage upwards of 15 miles per run at one point.

We took it over the top. The first run was 3 miles; it was easy and it felt good. We scaled it up so rapidly that barely 4 weeks after our first run we attempted a 15 mile run from San Francisco to Tiburon. Bad! It was way too far, much too soon.

With shoes, we could have done it. If we had brought regular running shoes and changed into them at some point it would have been a different story but we didn’t. We did it wrong and picked up some foot injuries and knee pain. We are personal trainers -- you’d think we’d be smarter -- but we made mistakes just like anybody else.

That particular run exemplifies the fact that over-training or chronic overuse syndromes develop from not progressing in a logical manner. You may not get injured immediately but if you try to do incredible leaps in your barefoot mileage you’ll pay in escalating foot, ankle, back and knee pain.

The biggest concern for barefooters are soft tissue issues. Even though your cardiovascular system and conditioning may be in good shape, your tendon, ligaments, and fascial structures need time to catch up and adapt after wearing shoes your whole life.

We are going to match your goals and expectations in a logical intuitive way. Manage your expectations. Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s easy to be super excited and then go run without shoes. It’s also easy to burn out or get injured. We want you to have a logical progression! You’re doing something your body isn’t 100 percent adapted to, so go slow.

We don’t recommend running completely barefoot in most cities! This is where minimalist footwear comes in handy. Don’t start barefoot running on super hard surfaces or near broken glass and hazardous materials. Use common sense. Go to a beach or grassy park that you know is free from hazards. Start training there: the pretty natural places to be barefoot! Remember, your instinct is your best guide!

We’re probably reaching the peak of barefoot running now. But it’s only going to get better. However, in the next 1-5 years we’re going to see more injuries. There’s going to be an escalating number of people with injuries who don’t know why they’re hurt. It’s because they didn’t develop a logical plan, they likely have poor running mechanics, they probably aren’t doing soft tissue/recovery work and/or they don’t have the requisite strength and stability to run correctly.

Before taking off your shoes, let’s start with an appreciation of the foot through a brief anatomy lesson.