Because of their full flexibility and wide fit, minimalist shoes were found to prevent the degeneration of soft tissues and muscles in the feet and in the ankle and calves. Also, minimalist shoes were found to make the foot’s arch better at storing energy-saving elastic power, which in turn, can reduce muscle costs by 17% as compared with traditional running shoes.
Unlike cushioned running shoes which were consistently found to cause more rigid heel strike landings and inappropriate joint loading, especially at the knee, the sensory input when you run barefoot translates into more fast-changing improvements, allowing you to use your leg swing and forefoot strike mechanics as functionally and safely as possible, while helping the feet build more strength and resilience against tough training. This is why barefoot running should be done in the first instance because the ground-feel is the only way to enhance the motor commands for low impact running.
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.
One of the main causes of tired feet after running is foot strike pattern. It turns out, how you land on your foot when you run has big implications for your foot’s energetics, whereby heel strike running was found to cause more rigid, high impact landings, while the line of travel of the foot when interacting on the ground was found to undergo a more harmful line of trajectory, tied to more over-pronation (i.e. the heel is forced into extreme positions) as compared with forefoot running, which was found to make more efficient, yet passive use of the foot. All in all, heel strike running causes the foot to grapple too much with the ground, which was found to be both inefficient and ineffective from an economical and injury preventative standpoint.
Spending more time barefoot will get your feet stronger than ever by enhancing the foot’s nerve communication which was found to directly stimulate increases in healthy blood vessels, soft tissues, fat pads, muscles and bones of the foot, whereas most cushioned athletic shoes are too narrow and inflexible, causing the foot’s engaging muscle activity to be overly restricted, and muscle tone diminishes.
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