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This is all counterintuitive, because running shoes reduce the impact of running, don't they? Wrong again. It has been shown that running shoes do not reduce the impact [5, 6]. It seems that the cushioning from shoes messes with the body's natural way of running [7]. One study went as far as describing running shoes as "safety hazards" [3]. One study showed that when stepping down to a cushioned surface the more cushioning, the more impact [11]. A recent study [14] showed that running shoes increased forces on the ankle, knee and hip compared with barefoot running. The knee forces were 36-38% higher with running shoes, which is worse than the effect of walking in high heels! But we need arch support, right? Nope. An arch is a self supporting structure. If you push up under an arch, you dramatically weaken it. There is indirect evidence from the human body; we are designed to run long distances. Regardless of your belief around the mechanism for that design (divine or evolution), our bodies have only had running shoes for a few decades, but we have been running for millennia. Currently, 24-65% of runners are injured each year [10]; it's hard to imagine humanity surviving if such rates are typical of the species. Many features of the human body are believed to be adaptations to running [12, 13]. There is also a growing body of anecdotal evidence that moving from traditional running shoes to minimalist shoes or barefoot cures chronic problems [9]<ref name="ref9"/>. My experience is part of that anecdotal evidence. I used to find that I would suffer various nagging injuries, mostly around the knee, hip or ankle until I swapped to a more minimalist shoe.
[1]Is your prescription of distance running shoes evidence based?[http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/bjsm.2008.046680v1 http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/bjsm.2008.046680v1] [2]<ref name="ref2">Robbins SE, Hanna AM (1987). Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 19, 148-156[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2883551 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov</pubmed/2883551]ref>
[3]<ref name="ref3">Robbins SE, Gouw GJ (1991). Athletic footwear: unsafe due to perceptual illusions. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 23, 217-224[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2017018 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed</2017018]ref>
[4]<ref name="ref4">Robbins S, Waked E (1997). Hazards of deceptive advertising of athletic footwear. British Journal of Sports Medicine 31, 299-303[http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/4/299?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=barefoot+running&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT http:/</bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/31/4/299?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=barefoot+running&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT]ref>
[5]<ref name="ref5">Robbins SE, Gouw GJ (1990). Athletic footwear and chronic overloading: a brief review. Sports Medicine 9, 76-85</ref>
[6]<ref name="ref6">Mechanical comparison of barefoot and shod running[http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17057833 http://cat.inist.fr</?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=17057833]ref>
[7]<ref name="ref7">Running-related injury prevention through barefoot adaptations[http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=1987&issue=04000&article=00014&type=abstract http://journals.lww.com</acsm-msse/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=1987&issue=04000&article=00014&type=abstract]ref>
[8]<ref name="ref8">MARTI, B. "Relationships Between Running Injuries and Running Shoes - Results of a Study of 5,000 Participants of a 16-km Run - The May 1984 Berne 'Grand Prix'"</ref>
[9]<ref name="ref9">Minimalist Footwear[http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/2007/10/minimalist-footwear.html http://antonkrupicka.blogspot.com/2007</10/minimalist-footwear.html]ref>
[10]<ref name="ref10">Factors related to the incidence of running injuries. A review.[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1615258 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed</1615258]ref>
[11]<ref name="ref11">Balance and vertical impact in sports: Role of shoe sole materials[http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S000399939790157X http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve</pii/S000399939790157X]ref>
[12]<ref name="ref12">Running paced human evolution[http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.18/01-running.html http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/11.18</01-running.html]ref>
[13]<ref name="ref13">Running Extra Mile Sets the Human Apart[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E7DD103FF93BA25752C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all http:/</query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E7DD103FF93BA25752C1A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all]ref>
[14] <ref name="ref14">The Effect of Running Shoes on Lower Extremity Joint Torques[http://www.pmrjournal.org/article/S1934-1482(09)01367-7/fulltext http:/</www.pmrjournal.org/article/S1934-1482(09)01367-7/fulltext]Further readingref>[http://barefootted.com/ http://barefootted.com/][http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2009/01/athletic-footwear-and-running-injuries/ http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2009/01/athletic-footwear-and-running-injuries/][http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html][http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm][http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/30shoe.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/30shoe.html][http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-barefoot5-2009oct05,0,5107405,full.column http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-barefoot5-2009oct05,0,5107405,full.column][http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=286691 http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=286691][http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-roving-runner-goes-barefoot/ http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-roving-runner-goes-barefoot<references/]>
no edit summary
Runners know the importance of getting the correct running shoe. After all, the right shoe will correct your biomechanical problems and prevent injury, right? Maybe not. There is no evidence that running shoes reduce or prevent injuries<ref name="ref1"/>. In fact, all of the evidence is that running shoes and injuries go together<ref name="ref2"/>. Also, more expensive running shoes are linked to more injuries than cheaper ones, even after allowing for mileage and injury history <ref name="ref4"/><ref name="ref8"/>. This is all counterintuitive, because running shoes reduce the impact of running, don't they? Wrong again. It has been shown that running shoes do not reduce the impact<ref name="ref5"/><ref name="ref6"/>. It seems that the cushioning from shoes messes with the body's natural way of running<ref name="ref7"/>. One study went as far as describing running shoes as "safety hazards" <ref name="ref3"/>. One study showed that when stepping down to a cushioned surface the more cushioning, the more impact<ref name="ref11"/>. A recent study<ref name="ref14"/> showed that running shoes increased forces on the ankle, knee and hip compared with barefoot running. The knee forces were 36-38% higher with running shoes, which is worse than the effect of walking in high heels! But we need arch support, right? Nope. An arch is a self supporting structure. If you push up under an arch, you dramatically weaken it.
There is no indirect evidence from the human body; we are designed to run long distances. Regardless of your belief around the mechanism for that design (divine or evolution), our bodies have only had running shoes reduce or prevent injuries [1]for a few decades, but we have been running for millennia. In factCurrently, all 24-65% of runners are injured each year<ref name="ref10"/>; it's hard to imagine humanity surviving if such rates are typical of the evidence is that running shoes and injuries go together [2]species. Also, more expensive running shoes Many features of the human body are linked believed to be adaptations to more injuries than cheaper ones, even after allowing for mileage and injury history [4, 8]running<ref name="ref12"/><ref name="ref13"/>.
Here is an analogy. Imagine you are running through the woods blindfolded. This is painful, because you keep running into trees. To ease the pain, you get a bigger, more padded blindfold. This helps a bit, as it cushions the pain of hitting the trees, but does not solve the problem. If you take off the blindfold, you will actually see the trees. Running in traditional running shoes is like running blindfolded. Your feet are very sensitive so that they can detect and adapt to the surface. To see this adaptation, check out this video - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM&feature=player_embedded# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9itkEkcQ8WM&feature=player_embedded#]
* [[Modified Nike Free]]
=Further reading=
* http://barefootted.com/
* http://www.livingbarefoot.info/2009/01/athletic-footwear-and-running-injuries/
* http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html
* http://www.sportsci.org/jour/0103/mw.htm
* http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/business/30shoe.html
* http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-barefoot5-2009oct05,0,5107405,full.column
* http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=286691
* http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/the-roving-runner-goes-barefoot/
== References ==
<references>
<ref name="ref1">Is your prescription of distance running shoes evidence based? http://bjsm.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/bjsm.2008.046680v1</ref>