Are Minimalist Shoes Better for Running?

The benefits of running in minimalist shoes and the damaging effects of cushioned running shoes are becoming more clear. More runners are turning to minimalist shoes because these barefoot-inspired footwear produces immediate improvements in running form and foot health that get better with time as compared standard running shoes.

Why Minimalist Shoes Are Better for — Running in minimalist shoes is a reliable way to improve your form, encouraging a forefoot strike (landing on the balls of the foot, not high up on the toes), rather than a high-impact heel strike, which is linked to nearly all injuries. The thin, flat sole of a minimalist shoe supplies an abundance of ground-feel that mobilizes a proper forefoot strike that is tied to more stability, a shorter stride, shorter ground-contact time as well as a more springy responsiveness of the foot.

A study by Kim et al. in the Journal of Biomechanics found that harder landing surfaces, like when running in minimalist shoe which are cushionless, makes your stride more spring-enabled, causing the muscles to perform less mechanical work, and therefore, expend metabolic energy as compared with soft, cushier landing surfaces, like when running in thick cushioned running shoe.

A spring-enabled stride, or a stride with more leg-spring is the leg’s natural ability to store elastic energy –primarily in the foot’s arch and Achilles tendon, which was found to be unusually impeded on softer plantar surfaces. Rather, of the ongoing research, leg-spring capacity increases with surface hardness, meaning the harder the plantar surface, and therefore, the less cushioning, the more economical your leg becomes on account of spring loading in the arch and Achilles is enhanced and the increases in spring energy in turn enhances running economy.

TadeEVO Barefoot Shoes Review — Running over harder surfaces like running in minimalist shoes that have barely any cushioning helps your foot spring up off the ground with less muscle effort because the sensation of a harder surface forces the foot to retract quicker off the ground, like a piston. This also limits the amount of time the foot spends grappling with the ground. Lastly, the thin sole of a minimalist shoe allows you to feel ground more clearly whereby better detection of the landing surface makes you more adaptable across any terrain.

All in all, leg-spring capacity is directly related to running surfaces as well as biomechanics. To farther enhance the spring properties of the elastic structures in the lower level, landing with a forefoot strike promotes energy efficiency by loading more elastic energy into the arch and the Achilles tendon. This does not happen in heel strike running because it has a different effect on your entire stride mechanics that makes your leg a sloppy, ineffectual spring. Read more on that here!

It’s also been well reported that foot strike can have a big influence on either enhancing or impeding the energy-saving spring properties of the arch and the Achilles. Landing with a forefoot strike gives you more access to spring energy

Does Foot Strike Matter When Running? — The more ‘springy’ your stride is through increasing elastic energy storage in the Achilles tendon and arch, the more economical running becomes. Foot strike matters because forefoot striking (above left), frees up more elastic energy to put to work, since good running economy require elastic strain energy. Researchers have also learned that landing heel-first (heel strike – above right), is economically limited because elastic contributions of the Achilles and arch is constrained.

Forefoot running is better at optimizing leg-spring, while protecting the arch and Achilles from high impact as than heel strike running,

The body naturally adjusts leg-spring capacity in response to different surfaces while similar running mechanics are maintained.

For instance, in addition to a forefoot strike landing, increased knee flexion and ankle plantar flexion is an adaptation to running barefoot on hard surfaces.

These variables not only allow barefoot runners to escape the confines of injury, but maximizes leg-spring.

The problem with cushioned running shoes is that they reverse the kinematic adaptations induced by barefoot running. That is, knee flexion decreases and so does ankle plantar flexion. One explanation for this apparent paradox is that the plantar surface is perceived as comfortable in cushioned running shoes.

This is why increased knee flexion is not needed to provide additional comfort when running in cushy shoes, however it IS needed for better running economy! Remember: increased knee flexion = better leg-spring.

The Harder, the Better

Harder plantar surfaces such as running barefoot or in pure minimalist running shoes is responsible for regulating joint-flexion needed for better leg-spring and therefore energy return.

Until recently, the notion that barefoot running enhanced performance seemed absurd. Now, the relationship between barefoot running and leg-spring capacity is becoming more thoroughly studied.

The evidence is now very convincing, especially since the best runners in the world grew up running barefoot and evolved adaptations of better leg-spring capacity than runners of habitual shod populations.

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References:

Ferris, D.P., Liang, K., Farley, C.T., 1999. Runners adjust leg stiffness for their ﬁrst step on a new running surface. Journal of Biomechanics 32 (8), 787–794.

Ferris, D.P., Louie, M., Farley, C.T., 1998. Running in the real world: adjusting leg stiffness for different surfaces. Proceedings of the Biological Sciences 265 (1400), 989–994.

Kim et al. The natural frequency of the foot-surface cushion during the stance phase of running. J Biomech, 2011; 44:774-79.

Kim, W., Voloshin, A.S., Johnson, S.H., 1994. Modeling of heel strike transients during running. Human Movement Science 13, 221–244.

Robbins SE., Hanna AM and Jones, L. Sensory attenuation induced by modern athletic footwear. J Test Eval, 1988; 16:412-16.

The Harder, the Better

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