Comments on: Barefoot Running Form in My Kids: Photos of Foot Strikes https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html Running Shoes, Gear Reviews, and Posts on the Science of the Sport Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:02:00 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.7.11 By: Dan Caouette https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-265221974 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-265221974 I love watching my 3 and 5 year old girls run.  We’re going to try and make sure they stay mid/fore-foot runners.  My 5 yo is getting Merril Barefoot shoes for kindergarten.

]]> By: Dick Patterson https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-276498536 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-276498536 I have observed this in kids for decades.This makes perfect sense, shoes are like straight jackets, Tell me how strong would your biceps be if you coulkd never do a curl?  – However for us adults after decades of allowing our feet to atrophy because of poor footwear choices and poor shoe designs, the harm we have done to our feet is not going to get reversed by hitting the gym or the roads barefoot 3 x a week for 40minutes. However this is a fantastic start. People need to compliment these barefoot activities with a biofeedback insole system (see barefoot science for example). Let’s face it for most of us we are in shoes 60-70% of the time during our waking hours – during that time our feet are subjected to the harmful forces created by footwear. Doing something proactive in our shoes during that 60-70% of the time will make being barefoot more enjoyable and achievable at a faster rate. Keep being barefoot as much as possible but also do something to combat the negative effects of our shoes.

]]> By: james https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-264356506 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-264356506 I like the two photos together. Frame it for the living room.

]]> By: Robert Osfield https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-265664929 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-265664929 Man your kids are patient with a geeky dad ;-)

Your pictures remind me of what I was observering whilst on holiday at the seaside in Nomandy, France.  On the wooden and concrete promanad you’d see lots of kids and parents jogging to and fro whilst playing, sometimes shod sometimes barefoot.  Almost everyone I saw was landing with their shin pretty well vertical – I don’t recall seeing anyone overstride.   I’d guess most likely not regular runners, just average folks at the sea-side having fun.

This observation surprised me given just how common overstridding looks to be during races with recreational runners, where over stridding with pronounced heel strike seems to be almost the norm.

Might the difference that happens when people start training in built up trainers and just fall into the habit of over stridding?  It would be interesting study to take a large set of new runners planning on training for a particular event and track them as they train – have half prescribed low heel drop shoes, while the rest can purchase what the local running shop might “prescribe”.  Has any study been done before?  

I’m curious as it be useful to know just how the typical gait we see at events is established.  I suspect that the overstridding and pronounced heel strike isn’t a default from the start of training, but something that is heavily influenced by type of footware one selects.

]]> By: Pete Larson https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-265674440 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-265674440 In reply to Robert Osfield.

Robert – would be an interesting study, and as my recent post on Lieberman’s
acclimation study shows, footwear can change gait over time. I even see
things change the moment I put shoes on my kids.

Pete

]]> By: Dick Patterson https://runblogger.com/2011/07/barefoot-running-form-in-my-kids-photos.html#comment-276498173 Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://localhost/runblogger/wordpress/?p=431#comment-276498173 I have observed this in kids for decades.This makes perfect sense, shoes are like straight jackets, Tell me how strong would your biceps be if you coulkd never do a curl?  – However for us adults after decades of allowing our feet to atrophy because of poor footwear choices and poor shoe designs, the harm we have done to our feet is not going to get reversed by hitting the gym or the roads barefoot 3 x a week for 40minutes. However this is a fantastic start. People need to compliment these barefoot activities with a biofeedback insole system (see barefoot science for example). Let’s face it for most of us we are in shoes 60-70% of the time during our waking hours – during that time our feet are subjected to the harmful forces created by footwear. Doing something proactive in our shoes during that 60-70% of the time will make being barefoot more enjoyable and achievable at a faster rate. Keep being barefoot as much as possible but also do something to combat the negative effects of our shoes.

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