Should you wear shoes during the running sessions? Seems that without shoes, running would be tough on your feet. It says not to use shoes when using the balance board but since you don't use the balance board during running, shouldn't you wear shoes?

Thanks

I don't wear shoes, mainly because I don't ever wear shoes in my house. Jogging in place with just my socks doesn't seem to bother my feet, though. (I DO wear shoes when I walk on my treadmill).

I don't wear shoes and have no problem. My orthopedic surgeon recommended going barefoot because it helps to strengthen your foot and arch muscles. I do kickboxing as well and it's all barefoot.

When you run on the spot without shoes you should really be running on the front of your foot, which means that all the impact is taken by your muscles and not by your joints. In fact when I do the running my heels barely touch the ground.

In fact there is increasing evidence that what we think of as "correct" running style, i.e. heelstrike-to-toe is actually wrong and unnatural, and is a product of modern running shoes. After all, the human foot is designed for running without shoes and did very well for thousands of years before Nike came along . If you look at footage of people running fifty years ago, when running shoes were much thinner plimsoles (or daps depending on where you come from ), they actually tend to land on the front of their feet. The same is true of people who run bare-foot.

This is the theory behind these odd looking Vibram Five Fingers shoes. The idea is that they protect your feet from getting cut or damaged, but let your toes spread out to provide stability, while making it easier to run more naturally. I'm quite tempted to get a pair but they are quite pricey.

It's better to run without shoes. As Paul says, there is plenty of research now that says we should be running on the front of our foot, not on our heels. If you watch animals, you will see that is what they do.

Some time back I posted a few articles about running barefoot:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healt ... earch.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/6968 ... eless.html

The second article mentions the Tarahumara tribe and how they run without any problems. I had run across this tribe and how they run before in the book God's Middle Finger: Into the lawless heart of the Sierra Madre by Richard Grant. He said that in 1993, a group of three Tarahumara runners had been taken to the hundred-mile ultramarathon in Leadville, Colorado. They ran in sandals cut from old tires and stopped for beers at the eighty-seven-mile mark. They finished first, second and fifth. The first-place winner was fifty-five years old and he ran the course, which was a hundred miles of rough moutain trail, in twenty hourse and three minutes. None of them trained, and, at home, only run when they are chasing a wild animal or racing with a kickball. They smoked , drank before the race, and refused to stretch.

The next year, the same organiser, a photographer called Rick Fisher, brought seven Tarahumara runners to the ultramarathon, and again, one of the runners placed first. All seven runners finished in the top eleven. All except the first-place winner drank beers along the way. In their sandals made from old tires and their loincloths, they beat professional and amateur ultrarunners decked out in the most modern clothing, with state-of-the-art running shoes, and elaborate support teams.

Perhaps modern sports training is a bit overrated.

I also wondered about this but have been told by a PE teacher I know that running barefoot is good for your feet and apparently there is some evidence from a recent study that running barefoot is actually better for you than wearing trainers! Don't know if I believe that, but I have found that running barefoot on the spot in my living room is fine - but I've started wearing socks as my feet get cold. Wearing trainers or other shoes would ruin your carpets anyway.

You don't need shoes especially if you have carpet, but I do wear my Crocs because I have calluses on the bottoms of my feet and the right foot in particular gets very sore over the callus when cycling, running or free stepping. My Crocs cushion my feet very well but are soft and pliable so they don't seem to be hurting my balance board. Actually, I run three times a week outside (for real) and sometimes I wear my Crocs and as long as I put the straps around my heels, they feel really good on my feet. The drawback to Crocs is that my feet sweat in them and can get pretty rank, so don't take them off in polite company!!