Happy Hungry Fit.: Barefoot and Minimalist Shoes

Some real basic stuff every runner should know about their shoes.

Our feet are our base of support, containing almost 30% of our body’s joints along with tons of proprioceptors (sensory receptors that allow you to feel your position in space and react to stimuli). Your feet are the foundation which all movement is built– but what happens if our feet aren’t strong, and how do we make them stronger?

When you squeeze your foot into a typical heavy, tightly-laced athletic shoe, you’re essentially blocking proprioceptors and reducing the sensory information that your brain receives about the position and movement of the foot. If your foot muscles are weak, you’ll lack balance, stability, and mobility of the foot and lower leg. Think shin splints, frequent ankle injuries, sore knees, plantar fasciitis.

If you’re a runner (even if you've just begun regular jogging--you're still a runner!), running in the wrong shoe can screw up your whole world. Proper running technique is nearly impossible in a typical athletic shoe.

So where do you start?

First, determine if you need a training shoe or a running shoe. Don’t wear running shoes to train.

If you've never owned a minimalist shoe, don't go straight for the barefoot shoe.

I wish someone would have told me this, because a few years ago when I just started trying to run consistently, I went from jogging in a Nike Air Max (heavy, clunky) to a Vibram (basically barefoot) and had consistent foot cramps for days. (Which is because your foot muscles are working harder. But, I could have seriously screwed up my ankles transitioning so fast.)

But yeah, don’t do what I did. Minimalist shoe running is a gradual process, so start with something that's kind of in the middle of the heavy shoe/ barefoot shoe continuum. All Nike Free shoes are midway between a barefoot shoe and an old-school athletic shoe, according to Wikipedia (they’re a 5 on the 1-10 scale). They still have cushioning and arch support, just less. So that’s a great place to start. To read more about this continuum and where your favorite shoe falls on it, click here.

If you already own a pair of these and have been consistently jogging in them with no foot/ankle discomfort and want to go a step further, search for minimalist shoes.

Saucony made a minimalist shoe a while back called the Kinvara, which had a dropped sole and way less cushioning in the heel (so as to encourage proper foot striking when running). Pretty sweet.

And a step further than that, of course, would be the Barefoot shoe Vibrams. I thought they looked pretty dumb for a while but (besides the initial foot cramps) I absolutely love these shoes. I have better balance, my calves are stronger, and I never tweak my ankle or get shin splints anymore which were both huge problems for me for a long time.

Interested in barefoot running?

Believe it or not, there's a community of barefoot runners out there who swear by it. I’m not interested in the least bit, really. Minimalist shoe running, absolutely, but I think completely barefoot running would turn your feet into Hobbit feet. But hey, to each his own.

The mechanics of minimalist shoe running are the same as barefoot running, with a little more structure in the right areas to encourage proper running form while still letting your foot move like it does without a shoe.

Here are some good books that will teach you way more than I just did about barefoot running, if you're into it: Shoeless Guru, Minimalist Running, Run Barefoot, Run Healthy. Also,runnersworld.com is a great source.

And one more word of advice? Don’t buy Under Armour shoes– They suck at making shoes.

And don’t wear these. Ever.