It’s important to emphasize that running barefoot is an incredibly quick way to learn forefoot running, but that’s only one side of the story. Running surface has an important role to play in helping you learn forefoot running more effectively whereby running barefoot on harder surfaces, like concrete, naturally produces fast-acting reflexive responses that help prevent you from landing heel-first (heel strike) as compared to running barefoot on softer surfaces. Bottom line, there are major underfoot sensory differences between running barefoot on concrete vs grass. The surface hardness of running barefoot on concrete quickly sharpens your focus at helping you uphold heel strike avoidance simply because it hurts to slam heel-first into the ground whereas on grass, heel striking when running barefoot feels comfortable, but the softness of soft surfaces does nothing to minimize the impact-peak produced at heel strike running. Read more about the benefits of running barefoot concrete here!
