Benno Nigg and Henrik Enders from the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Calgary conducted a new study that investigated the popular belief that running barefoot makes athletes less prone to injuries.
Ever since a shoeless Abebe Bikila set a new world record in marathon running at the Rome Olympics in 1960, running sans footwear has become extremely popular. In fact many shoe manufactures have already improvised their products claiming their shoes offer benefits that are obtained from running barefoot. Since no scientific proof has yet been found about the same, Benno Nigg and Henrik Enders from the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Calgary conducted a new study that investigated the belief.
In the first half of the study, they investigated the popular belief that running barefoot makes athletes less prone to injuries as it encourages a 'forefoot' rather than a 'heel' landing. Nigg and Enders said that during their research they found no evidence of reduced injuries. Also, they found that factors like the running surface, shoe choice, speed and individual preferences are important points to consider before making such generalizations.
Another thing researchers found was that there was no difference in strengthening of certain muscles when a person ran with or without shoes. Also, the weight of shoes didn't seem to affect a person's performance. In fact, the shoe choice and a runner's preferred strike pattern affected the way he performed more than whether he wore shoes or not.
The researchers concluded the study saying "it is not known whether people running barefoot have more, equal, or fewer injuries than people running in conventional running shoes."
The study is published in the journal Footwear Science.
