👟 When a person runs in "traditional" sneakers:

👉🏻 The cushioning in the shoe dulls the sensitivity of the foot.
👉🏻 As a result, many land on their heels - often with a straight leg.
👉🏻 Because of this, the hamstrings and tendons are overstretched.
👉🏻 Also, landing on the heel increases the load on the bones and joints (especially the knees and ankles), which are not designed for such a force of impact.
👉🏻 The muscles hardly work and do not reduce the impact load - the skeleton "catches" everything.
👉🏻 This is why many running injuries with knees, feet, ankles.

And now – how does barefoot running work?

👣 When a person runs barefoot or in bare shoes:

👉🏻 The heel is very sensitive, so the body itself avoids landing on it.
👉🏻 The step forms a curvature, the foot is directed downwards, the knee is more bent.
👉🏻 Landing occurs on the top or front part of the foot, the impact moves over a larger area and is dampened more softly.
👉🏻 The muscles are activated – especially the shins and thighs, and the joints work like springs.
👉🏻 All this helps the body move naturally and safely, reducing the load on vulnerable areas.

In 2012, a study was conducted in the United States*, which clearly showed a decrease in the number of injuries in athletes who begin their running step with the front part of the foot (Allison R. Altman, Irene S. Davis: Barefoot Running: Biomechanics and the Effects of Running Injuries).

Another illustrative fact

In 1960, at the Summer Olympics in Rome, something happened that went down in the history of running and changed the way we look at it. Ethiopian athlet, Abebe Bikila ran a marathon (42,195 meters) barefoot. And won a gold medal🥇

Just another fact on how barefoot shoes help in sports! 

We have already learned that shoes are one of the main elements that affect technique and safety during training. And this is important not only in running. Thus, in strength exercises, stabilizing feet are directly related to the caution of movements.

Barefoot shoes:
🔸 flat sole – provides balance and good support during use;
🔸 thin, flexible – does not prevent the foot from feeling a reliable connection with the surface and thus helps the body maintain balance;
🔸 wide – gives freedom to the toes, due to which the area of adhesion to the breakage increases and the impact load is transmitted.

This, however, does not mean that barefoot shoes will immediately make you a champion. Especially if the body is accustomed to sneakers that do all the work for it. It will take time to “reconfigure”. But barefoot shoes definitely provide more natural body movements intended by nature. And nature, as we know it, will never suggests bad things ☺️