TEDxSMU

One Response to “Kyle Martin Shares the Beauty of Barefoot Running at TEDxSMU 2009”

1. Reply

   Jamie says:

   September 4, 2011 at 8:17 am

   He’s right barefoot running is beautiful!

   Just a couple of points I think he left out:
   Running (barefoot or not) is a skill, most people don’t understand or believe this. It is presumed that everyone can go out their front door and go for a run, technically they can but they are likely to be inefficient and prone to injury.

   With all skillful sports and activities (from tennis and darts through to football and the pole vault) all participants do their upmost to gain all the sensory feedback from their surroundings. For example a tennis player wouldn’t wear thick gloves as they would reduce the amount of control of their racquet. Therefore why would a runner wear thick cushioned trainers?

   A small proportion of this feedback comes from your eyes (20%) and vestibular system (10%) but the majority from from proprioception (70%). And the majority of proprioception comes from the soles of your feet – that’s the key behind barefoot running.

   If you get into the mindset of thinking that running is a skill and skillful activities require plenty of sensory feedback you will most definitely change the way you run.

   As for Vibram FF. They do give you a sense of being barefoot but they are not puncture resistant and the don’t let your foot and arch contract and collapse as it does when you are truly barefoot.

   The secret is finding a shoe which has a puncture resistant sole, is very thin, and let’s your feet do their thing!