Running without shoes on

[tufrthanu]

If you want tough feet your best bet is to use some form of Makiwara. These are usually made of rope covered wood. Don't get the foam ones. Just lightly kick or roll the contact points of your foot across it. You can do these with your hands too.

[aefibird]

Or use surgical spirit if you just want tough feet. Rub it on regularly and you'll soon have tough soles!

[supergroup7]

All you want to know about running barefoot. Check it out:

 

http://www.runningbarefoot.org/

 

Q8: Is it actually healthy to go barefoot?

 

Very much so. I quote from the following article published in Women's Sports & Fitness, August 1994 issue:

 

A recent study demonstrates that the skin on the soles of your feet resists abrasions and blistering and that going barefoot is beneficial to the musculoskeletal structure of your feet and ankles. ... Kicking off your shoes can help prevent a host of foot injuries: bunions, heel spurs, and bone deformities, among others. "Shoes act like casts, holding the bones of the foot so rigid that they can't move fluidly," [steven] Robbins [MD and adjunct associate professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia University, Montreal] explains. "The foot becomes passive from wearing shoes and loses the ability to support itself." ...

 

-- Cheryl Sacra

[40 cent]

hmm, interesting, is there any other research to support this?

[markusan]

I run on the beach occasionally in bare feet, the sand conforms to your feet giving you a bit of support, and it toughens the skin up. Start off slow though, it's a big calf muscle workout.

[battousai16]

we do that in cross country, only, if we go bare foot we stay on the foot ball fields, just so we don't slice our feet on rocks and sprinklers and such, which never helps in a race it does something with your ankles or something. we don't do this until after the work out, so i'm always pretty tired by the time coach is explaining this, and i'm not really paying attention keep it somewhere you know you wont get hurt, though.

[Xerxes]

Well back in Okinawa they really didn't have the luxeries of shoes on hand all the time. But now we live in the civilized world where shoes are readily accessible, so I suggest you take advantage of that and not run in your bare-feet.

[Fish]

As a long time runner, I have to say that personally I think it's probably not a good idea to do too much running barefoot. It's not just your feet you have to think about, there's all the stress running puts on your ankles, knees and hips. Most runners spend a lot of time injured, even wearing decent trainers!

[MauyThaiMonster]

well i hear swimming is a good alternative...Fish

[muaythaifreak]

Well back in Okinawa they really didn't have the luxeries of shoes on hand all the time.

 

I'm confused, are you talking about in like the thirties or something? I lived in Okinawa for over a year and don't recall any shoe shortages. Perhaps you're referring to the poor who cannot afford shoes?