Long-term reliance on running shoes with excessive underfoot cushioning was found to reduce nerve supply in the feet, which contributes to frail, functionally weak feet as well as poor balance as compared with barefoot-inspired shoes, which were found to improve nerve communication efficiency. This in turn lead to greater muscle tone which promotes stronger muscles and soft tissues in the foot.
The only disadvantage of barefoot running is blistering which is attributed to doing too much barefoot running too soon. The best approach to barefoot running is an incremental one, starting off by running barefoot for 1 minute then walking barefoot, and repeating this interval according to your tolerance level. If you do get a blister, the next best alternative to barefoot running is minimalist footwear, which does an equally excellent job at helping you move away from heel strike running, and instead, helps you easily adopt a forefoot strike tied to less over-striding, better upper body posture, higher cadence and less ground-contact time.
The main cause of toe injury from barefoot running is the toes are being used too much to aggressively push the entire weight of the body forward into the next step. This problem can be completely avoided by landing properly on your forefoot because it makes the knee softly bend and the torso shift slightly forward, which in turn, causes the foot to actually spring up on its own, thereby relieving the toes from being over-engaged to push the body forward through each step.
The high impact loads of heel strike running increases compartment pressure in the foot-ankle complex that persists as pain and injury as compared with forefoot running.
Barefoot running does the most good for reversing the damgaing mechanical impairments caused by cushioned running shoes.
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