Recently there has been a new trend in the fitness industry known as "barefoot training". Here, people train in shoes that mimic the sensation of training barefoot with only minimal cushioning to protect our feet from the hard ground. Barefoot training has been shown to have many benefits over regular athletic shoes and have been shown to reduce injuries as well. This is why PBA teams like Powerade and Meralco have switched to training in Vibram shoes, which mimic barefoot training, and shoe companies like Nike and adidas are developing their own shoes with "barefoot technology."
Over the last 2 million years, humans have evolved to become the only upright bipedal, running primates. Over this time our feet have evolved to be dexterous and sensitive masterpieces. They are the part of our body that is in most contact with our physical environment and are lined with many proprioceptive systems that inform our brains about how we are interacting with our physical environment. Leonardo Da Vinci said: "The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art." Within each of our feet, there are 26 bones, 33 joints, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles so it's not hard to see why he said that. These bones, joints, ligaments and muscles form a complex system of springs and levers unmatched elsewhere in nature. Our feet play a major role in shock absorption, propulsion, and stability, allowing us to perform movements like walking, running, and sprinting. We need to keep our feet and ankles strong, something which the development of the athletic shoe has been of aid to.
With the demand for comfort and support, shoe companies gave rise to shoes with dense cushioning and thick soles. These shoes most definitely provided stability, comfort and support but at the same time, they immobilized a person’s feet and ankles. The shoes restricted the body’s natural movements and caused certain muscles to weaken which causes the increase in risk of injury. Through studies it has been shown the mechanics of running have actually been altered when wearing some shoes. Runners strike the ground with their heels rather than the more efficient forefoot strike where there is too much cushioning. The heel strike running form gives repetitive impact forces by as much as three times our body weight with each stride. The extra stress is distributed across our bodies which can lead to pain or injury anywhere along our bodies’ kinetic chain. This is one reason why despite over 25 years of research, the percentage of runners suffering from injuries while wearing cushioned shoes has not decreased.
When training with "barefoot shoes," our feet have better proprioceptive feedback from the ground, which optimizes movement efficiency so we run naturally. At the same time they keep our feet strong and healthy, and also provide a more natural full range of motion in the foot. Training with "barefoot shoes" has been shown to reduce injuries like runner’s knee, shin splints, plantar fasciitis and achilles tendonitis. I personally had really bad achilles tendonitis in college and used to take painkillers before games so I could play. At one point, it got so bad I started to develop bumps on my achilles through the formation of scar tissues. My therapists made me take a break from playing in fear that my achilles may snap during play. I started training in "barefoot shoes" and with that and a combination of different exercises, my achilles tendonitis slowly disappeared.
There are many benefits from barefoot training but if you are comfortable with your shoes and how your body feels, there is no need to really switch. But I suggest that if you have various foot problems or running injuries, slowly move towards training with shoes like Vibrams. Take your time and slowly transition into using them. Don't do a hard run right away because they do train muscles in your lower body that you may not have been using. If you want to learn the hard way like me, you'll wake up with various sore muscles you haven't felt in a while.