Barefoot Biomechanics 👣

Barefoot Biomechanics 👣 Taken from my book #BLUEPRINT here’s an extract & throwback to shoeless sprints 😊 “When one's feet hurt, one hurts all over.” A quote from the famous Greek philosopher Socrates and although thousands of years old, modern sports science shows it still holds true today. Which (I must admit) is somewhat worrying for my squishy ‘sea feet’, since if left untreated research shows poor foot health can lead to the collapse of foot arches (or flat feet), arthritis or even stress fractures. Needless to say, I didn’t want any of the above, which is I found myself locked in the library at @Vivobarefoot HQ with sleeves rolled up, elbow deep in research. Delving into thousands of medical sports journals and owing much to the genius of Professor Dan Lieberman (chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard) and Dr Peter Francis (from Leeds Beckett University’s School of Clinical and Applied Sciences) this is what I found.

Right now, there is a debate raging.

It involves large, multi-million-pound shoe manufacturers and barefoot running advocates as both argue over the cause and cure for running-related injuries. Both agree that between 30% to 70% of runners incur running-related repetitive stress injuries per year, but they cannot agree on how to prevent, treat or cure these injuries. This is despite many perceived advancements in sports science and shoe technology in recent years.

Now worth noting is there are many theories around this and right now there is no agreed scientific consensus on the correct one (I believe it’s a blend of a few which I’ll explain later). On the one hand, many believe running is just intrinsically ‘harsh’ on the body and bones and that high rates of injury are just normal (basically, the issue lies in the fragility of the human foot). Another widespread hypothesis is that many injuries result from “training errors” when people run too far or too fast without properly adapting their musculoskeletal system (what this means is the issue lies in training methodology) 👣

[graememckay]

So Ross runs like he swims. Smooth, powerful and fast.

[faisalkhan]

The last Guy speed was super smooth. The 2nd one was pushing so hard to catch the 3rd one.

[gabegabe]

Didn't even know you were making that many youtube videos. You deserve way more views. 🇺🇸

[davy]

When you hear the brownies are half price....

[lynndvorak]

The only ones whose feet move faster are double dutch pros.

[worklive]

Watching this again. Amazing how the head stays so still, like a predator. Evolution, without the Darwin.